The Boy Who Cried Wolf
by Dextolan
Summary: Third installation of 'Caged', the final chapter of the trilogy! Reid's old team in Miami have found themselves in a spot of trouble, including stalking and murder. They call the BAU for help, but will it be too late? Will the two teams overcome their problem, or will it consume them, like the wolf it is? WARNING : CHARACTER DEATH (sorry)
1. Old Faces

**(Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal minds)**

 **Old Faces**

 **I felt that I could do more with my first story, so here it is, the third instalment of Caged. Updates will probably be pretty slow as I have two stories on the go.**

 **Just a little hint of what you might expect. Reid's team back at CSI are being targeted (I really liked their team, and I wanted to write more about them) the BAU are called in to help and they find themselves knee deep in trouble. Just to warn you (I hate to say it because I think it ruins the story) but there will be at least one CHARACTER DEATH, that's all I'm saying because I think that spoils it enough. If you're not up to character deaths then I'd stop here.**

 **This story works as a standalone, so you don't necessarily have to read the other two, but there will be references that you'll only understand if you've read the first two. I will add a little info about the CSI characters, so if you haven't read the other two you know who they are.**

 **Please read and review.**

* * *

 _Micheal Harper= Lieutenant, age 55._

 _Mara Dunkel = detective, age 32 (Twin of Amelia)._

 _Amelia Dunkel= Detective, age 32 (Twin of Mara)._

 _Stanley McGarity = Detective, age 48._

 _Matthew Copus = Tech analyst, age 36._

 _Conner Jacobs = Tech analyst, age 39._

 _Angie Morris = M.E, age 43._

* * *

"Agent Hotchner, this is Micheal Harper, no doubt you remember me from the Jack Callen case."

"Can't really forget that case. How are you all?"

"Well that's why I called. We have a problem."

* * *

 **Several hours earlier**

"He's out back. Mara cover me." Amelia aimed her gun and slowly entered the back room. Her eyes swivelled around the room, locking on the walls, she gasped and almost dropped her gun.

"Amelia is it clear?" Mara called out from behind.

"C..clear." Amelia could barely breath let alone speak, she stumbled across the room to the dingily lit desk. Pinned over every wall of the cramped office were a collage of images. They overlapped each other, pins sticking out of them from all angles and scrawled writing and symbols in black and red marker littered the pictures. It was who was in the photos which had frozen Amelia to the floor. Each photo was different and captured each and every member of the CSI team.

Mara burst in her gun still raised due to Amelia's stuttering. She rushed to her stationary sister, running a hand over her shoulder.

"Wha..." but her eyes caught a picture of her and her fiancé having dinner together.

"How?" She whispered nearing the board and fingering the images. There was another one of her and Stanley buying coffee, among several others with her going about her daily life.

Stanley tiptoed into the room with Micheal close behind, both dropping their guns and joining the young dectectives.

"Harper are you seeing this?" Stanley, muttered flicking through the photos. He paused on one, pulling it out and gaping down at it. It was an image of him and his wife at the golf club.

"This was last week, Micheal.."Stanley started heaving his breaths out. Micheal was also gazing at the pictures, most of them were recent, but there were also some from the previous year.

"Stan, you and Amelia secure the area fully." Micheal kept his eyes on the images, Mara was trudging the area as Stanley and Amelia headed out.

"Hey, Harp, take a look at this", Mara managed to keep her cool as she rummaged through the images of herself and her team. She showed him multiple pictures of their victims, first was Laura, there were images of her waiting on the streets and then there were ones of her choking on her own blood.

Mara's fingers brushed a scrap piece of paper. _~Wolf,_ was all it read. When Micheal saw it his eyes grew wider, that one name sounded off alarm bells in his head.

"Jason..." hissed Harper, looking up his eyes bouncing around the room. Mara followed his eyes, hers too filling with fear.

"You're not serious...it...he..." her breathing picked up it's pace and her legs suddenly became weak, barely able to hold her own weight. Micheal didn't reply, his eyes still staring down at the note.

"This is him? All of it? He's not a murderer, Harper... he's..." her voice died out when she took a fleeting glance at the pictures of her team. "He's not..." she couldn't finish because she knew it wasn't true, he _was_ extremely capable of this, she knew it, Micheal knew it, the team knew it.

"We need help on this", Micheal said finally, after a long bout of silence.

"What kind of help?", muttered Mara, her brow falling over her eyes.

* * *

"The BAU? Isn't that Spencer's team?" Amelia glanced at her sister, before turning her eyes back on the road.

"Yes, I...I don't want to drag them into this, this is our problem", Mara mumbled, looking out the window.

"And they just so happen to be experts in that particular problem. Hey, it's their job", reassured Amelia, sensing the panic in her sister's voice. "Anyway, I'm looking forward to a catchup with 'James Cooper', I've missed him", she admitted with a smile.

"Yea, that's 'cus you fancy him. But we can't think about that now, we have a major problemo on our hands", Mara said seriously, changing the subject when Amelia glared at her, her cheeks burning red.

"I do not, Mara", she hissed, her fingers tightening on the wheel.

"Like I said, we can't be focused on your love life right now, that'll have to wait", Mara kept her face straight and stern, even when her sister's angry, saucer eyes sent daggers her way.

* * *

 **1 week earlier**

"What can you tell us about the victim?" Amelia pulled on a pair of gloves and knelt down beside the body.

"29 year old female, Laura Evans. Blood loss was the cause of death, she'd been stabbed at least 13 times in the abdomen and then..." he placed a finger on the long laceration along her throat, "perp finished her off by cutting her throat." Amelia cringed at the cut. She'd been in her job long enough to be used to the bodies, but she couldn't stand torn up flesh and blood, she was human after all.

"Any background on her?" Stanley asked, kissing his teeth and examining the victim.

"We have reason to believe she was a prositute." Mara frowned, the body was dressed in a blood stained blouse, a navy pencil skirt and makeup was done subtly, not like the thick amounts she'd seen other prostitutes wear

"She was dressed post mortem", Mara revealed. "She's not in attire normally attributed to prostitutes."

"She may be dressed to go out for an interview. She looks professional. We should talk to other prostitutes in the area, and check cctv footage, see if she was wearing this prior to her death." Stanley said, struggling to his feet. Mara looked at him skeptically, preferring her own idea. Amelia bit her lip, not knowing what to believe

"This the weapon?" Amelia questioned, picking up a blood sodden knife.

"We believe so", muttered the officer, putting his hands in his pockets and licking his lips.

"Why would he leave it?" Mara frowned, opening a bag for Amelia to drop the knife into.

"He may have left it on purpose, so I doubt we'll find any prints on it, but it's worth a shot." Amelia said.

"This is the forth murder now", muttered Mara.

"The only connection they have is that they were all found in Miami, other than that we have nothing to link them." Stanley sighed, causing Mara to huff, she knew there was something about this string of murders.

"I still think we need help on this", Mara insisted hopping in the car beside Stanley, Amelia slipping in the back and keeping quiet, still a little queasy at the sight of all that blood.

"You're biased. You just want to see Spencer again..." Stanley started, but Mara soon stopped him. Amelia smiled at his name. Everyone wanted to see the young Spencer Reid again, even Conner, though he'd never admit it.

"No, no, as much as I would love to see him, in serious. I really think there's more to this case", Stanley rolled his eyes, he too had a niggling suspicion that the murders were connected, but he had no proof and he was very much a see-it-to-believe-it kind of man.

"We'll focus on what we do know for now, not imaginary ideas with no evidence." Mara sighed and focused on the scenery passing by.

When they got back the team started working on the case. Mara wandered off to her desk and pulled out the files on the last few murders.

Antony Edgecoat, 36, cashier at local newsagent. He had greasy black hair which the murderer had cut into a slapdash, jagged, cropped style. He had been dressed out of his work uniform and into jeans, a shirt and a pair of thick glasses. The strangest part was that he had several spider bites littering his body, each inflicted by a severely venomous spider. He was found in the back room, tied to a chair. Angie determined blood poisoning from the spider bites as the cause of death. The cctv revealed the mans torture and death, but the perpetrator kept himself covered up and hidden.

Roger Carlo, 51, retired. His hair was already cropped short and had begun to grey. He wasn't found for around 6 days after he went missing. He was found after an anonymous tip was given to the police who found him buried 5 foot under the ground in a makeshift coffin. He was dressed in a suit and tie.

Samantha Dalton, 30, another prostitute. She had long blonde hair and was dressed in 3/4 length shorts and a light blue shirt. She was found drowned in a lake.

These murders all took place in some part of Miami, however each victim was a different age and the perp had no preference to gender or occupation. Mara desperately looked for some way to connect them, but came up blank, therefore her team would not pursue her theory. She shut the file on Samantha quickly, shivers going down her spine at the thought of drowning.

"Hey, stop obsessing over those. We have no leads in any of those cases, don't beat yourself up over it", Matthew handed her a cup of coffee and lent beside her desk.

"There's just...something, something about them", she mused, gratefully taking the coffee and filling it with several packs of sugar she had hidden in her desk drawer.

"Let it go", moaned Jacobs, striding up, his arms folded. Matthew glared at him, and turned back to Mara. She sighed, taking a swig of your coffee. "Focus on the real job at hand", ordered Jacobs.

"I..I guess you're right."

"I'm always right", Conner left them drinking their coffee as he marched back to his darkened lab.

* * *

"Have we been called into Miami yet?" Reid asked from behind his large mug of coffee. Garcia, who had come out of hibernation in her lair, shook her head. JJ smirked.

"Why would we be Spence? You got a date with a certain someone?" JJ asked sweetly, Morgan kissed his teeth and grinned and Alex narrowed her eyes.

"Uh...n...no...nothing like...um...I...it's", he cleared his throat to ease his stuttering. "There's been several murders there and I...uh...I thought they'd call us in by now", he swallowed thickly as the others glanced at each other, deciphering whether it was the truth or an excuse.

"There's probably no connection between them. But if they keep piling up, ya never know pretty boy, we might be able to go see your girlfriend", the others laughed, and Spencer hid behind a file, blushing deeply.

"S..she's not my...uh...w..w..we're just friends, just friends", he insisted, clearly embarrassed.

"Yea, yea, we know, Reid", Emily chuckled.

* * *

 **Present**

"We have a case in Miami", Garcia grimaced, pressing some buttons and watching as images filled the screen.

"The unsub is targeting the CSI team in Miami", relayed Hotch, making Reid's face contort in panic.

"Is someone hurt? Did the unsub attack one of..."

"Calm down Reid. None of the team have been attacked as of yet, however there were a string of murders which seem to be connected to this targeting."

"How so?" Rossi asked, tapping his fingers on his lips.

"They found the unsubs warehouse from an anonymous tip with their most recent case. The warehouse," Hotch motioned to Garcia and the screen showed images of the warehouse interior and the scene that the CSI team had stumble upon. "...was investigated and hundreds of photographs were found. They were images of the team, as well as images of the victims before and after their deaths, which links the unsub to murder and stalking."

"Are there any leads?" Emily asked, examining the images in the file.

"They believe the unsub is a previous colleague of theirs. He was fired several years ago for corruption. He was a bad egg", Garcia chimed in, showing them an image of Jason Wolf. "However, after he was fired, he fell off the radar. It's likely he has a new identity, and the tech guys at CSI couldn't drag anything up on him."

"How much do the team know of Wolf?" Derek asked.

"Apparently very little, Mara and Amelia said they were new when he was fired and he was higher in command than they all were, so they had very little interaction. We'll brief more on the plane, grab your go-bags, wheels up in 20", Hotch left for his office.

"Can you please be wrong one day!" Groaned Morgan at Reid, who looked up confused.

"Huh?"

"You said these murders were connected and that we'd be heading out for Miami. What are you, an oracle now?" He laughed, making Reid pout.

"No, that'd be me, my chocolate god", swooned Garcia.

* * *

"They'll be here soon. Is the conference room set up?" Harper walked out of his offices, heading up to his Detectives desks.

"Mmm hmm, and I've just refilled the coffee machine to keep certain people happy", Harper smirked, a memory of Reid and his endless cups of coffee surfaced.

"We have to tell them everything we can remember about Jason", Stanley advised, stroking a long finger down his crooked nose. He looked up at Harper who adverts his eyes. He'd been something of a friend to Wolf, something he had been lacking. It was a case Wolf had been on with the CSI team that had lead to his premature firing. Alongside other allegations, it was his actions on that mission that lost him his position.

Ameila sat in her chair, watching the entrance for the BAU to arrive. She could feel butterflies flapping around in the pit of her stomach. Mara came out of the computer lab, her feet tapping tightly on the floor and her face screwed up with excitement.

"They're here!" She squealed, revealing a big toothy grin.

"Were you spying again?" Chortled Stanley, rubbing his head and smiling. His mind went back to 'James Cooper's' first day, which had begun just like this.

"Call it so", she admitted, hurrying over to the glass doors.

* * *

Reid was the first out of the car, and he scurried to the familiar building which had been his workplace for several months.

"Slow down", Prentiss called, but Reid was already through the doors and at the reception.

"Can i see your... Oh My God, James! Oh, well, i mean Spencer...uh, what are you doing back?" The plump receptionist hopped out from behind her desk and enveloped Spencer in a hug, her neon green fingernails flicking over his wild hair.

"It's good to see you, Tara", Reid awkwardly hugged her back, not being much of a hugger. "The team needs help on a new case, so...uh... we've been called in," he motioned to his team who were just starting to file through the doors.

"Oh, I can't complain," she took his cheeks in her soft palms, "I've missed you, my little nerd," she cooed, puckering her lips as she did and squeezing Spencer's cheeks. Reid was awkwardly trying to pull away from the lock hold that Tara had managed to get him in. A voice from up the stairs drew their attention upwards.

"SPENCER!" Mara threw open the glass doors and sprinted down the steps, jumping into Reid's arms. She hadn't seen him since Christmas, and before that had been her wedding, where they all had a little too much to drink, and she had caught her sister and Spencer sharing a drunken kiss, (she kept this knowledge to herself in case of future blackmail.) She and Reid had been exchanging emails (which she'd introduced to him when they worked together, along with skype), almost daily. Mara knew her sister also talked to him, though she wouldn't admit it.

Rossi pulled up close to Hotch and whispered, "Is that Amelia or Mara?", his memory having deceived him. Hotch looked from the Detective's blonde hair held in a bun, to her yellow t-shirt and jeans. "Mara," he muttered back and he heard Rossi "ahh" and make his way forward.

Rossi held out his hand to the over-excited detective and she shook it vigorously in her own.

"Agent Rossi, good to see you again, all of you", She smiled widely and infectiously and the agents returned it.

"How's married life treating you?" JJ winked, embracing Mara.

"Great! But I don't think Ronnie appreciates my late night cereal eating", she grimaced and led them up the steps. "You guys ready for some serious stalker shit?" she asked, then put her hand over her mouth, realising the warning Harper had given her about swearing and that it was unprofessional, especially in front of guest law enforcement officers. The BAU just smiled at her, Hotch even had a ghost of a smile quivering over his lips. Mara was too sweet for them to reprimand.

Harper saw the FBI agents making their way up the stairs and entering with Mara leading them happily. Spencer's arm was tightly in her grasp. Harper looked the kid up and down, grinning. It was clearly the reincarnation of 'James Cooper' who had once worked there. The scar across his forehead was still there, though it was less noticeable now. Harper had seen his transformation from Cooper to Reid and so he was used to the brown eyes, brown hair, lack of glasses and general nerd look about his attire. The two teams had gathered together many times over the passing years, but this was the first time they were working together since the Callen case.

It took 20 minutes for them to all gather in the conference room to discuss the case, they'd all been too happy to see each other to focus on work. When they organised themselves Harper began to explain the story of Jason Wolf's firing. Everyone listened intently, but Spencer couldn't help but gaze at the images of the victims, Rossi saw him staring and could practically hear the cogs turning around in his head.

* * *

" _Jason, we need to wait for back up," Harper told his superior, cringing as he waited for the response._

 _"For god sake, Harper, there's enough of us to take down this son of a bitch," he motioned to Stanley Mcgarity and the fresh faced Mara Dunkel, who held her gun nervously and with a slight tremor._

 _"He has hostages. Let me and Stanley go in first, try to calm him", Wolf just looked at Harper blankly._

 _"I don't negotiate", he stated, slamming his foot into the door, and entering. "Hands up!" Harper heard .Jason call, and he cursed under his breath, following his superior. The perp stood in the middle of the room, a knife held tightly to his young victims throat, the other hand held a gun which was aimed at a small crying child in the corner._

 _"S...stay back o..or I...I shoot!" Cried the felon, the knife in his hand shook, and the mother he held pleaded for her son's life._

 _"You don't have to do this, Stephen", whispered Mara, holding her hands up, her voice gentle and soothing and it seemed to ease the man's fear. "I know what you're going through, they're telling you to do it aren't they?" She stepped closer to the schizophrenic, who was calming at her soft voice._

 _"Y..you know?" He muttered pitifully, the knife easing off the woman's neck._

 _"Yes, this isn't your fault, we can get you help Stephen..." she was cut off by a rough and coarse voice._

 _"Course it's his fault. You killed your own mother!" Jason shouted. Stephen re-positioned the knife. **T**_ **hey don't understand,** _he thought to himself,_ ** _no one knows, no one will, no one will help you,_** the voices chanted devilishly in his ear. _He felt tears burning his eyes. He hadn't meant to hurt his mother, they told him to, they said they would go away if he did, but the voices remained to torment him._

 _Mara shot Jason an angry look as did Stanley, Harper was used to this behavior from Wolf._

 _"No, Stephen, listen to me. You don't need to hurt these people, they're innocent. We can get you help I promise", Jason sobbed loudly, he didn't know who to turn to, the voices told him to kill them, the nice lady said she could help if he let them go and the angry man wanted to shoot him._

 _"If I... them go, you will h...he...help me?" He stuttered, trying to ignore the growing voices. Mara smiled and nodded. Stephen returned her nod with a shaky one of his own and began slowly lowering the knife._

 _"HANDS OVER YOUR HEAD!" Wolf bellowed impatiently, causing Stephen to jolt in surprise. The slight jolt sent Jason into over drive and he shot three times at Stephen. The first struck him in the abdomen, but the second and third Stephen_ _had managed to pull the mother in front of him and both bullets buried themselves into her back._

 _The women survived the ordeal, the first bullet having gone straight through and lodging in Stephen and the second destroyed many nerves and got stuck in her spine. She could never walk again, (though Wolf argued this was better than death.) Stephen was D.O.A, the first bullet had nicked an artery and the second punctured his lung, causing him to bleed out and into his organs, suffocating him. The blood loss sped up his death and lessened his suffering._

* * *

Harper looked up at the agents who nodding sadly.

"What happened to Wolf?" They all turned to Reid who had his eyes scanning across the file, he looked up for an answer.

"He should've gotten jail time. He had to pay out a fine to the family of the young mother, but he managed to work his way out of most of his punishment and well... he literally disappeared, no-one heard from him after that. Though he did give us a few choice words before he went. Just slander really." Harper mused in the memory, kissing his teeth and grimacing sadly.

Derek stood up, walking over to the board.

"Well what are we waiting for", he turned and raised his bushy eyebrows at the two teams.

"Lets catch this Wolf."

* * *

 **Things may seem a little jumbled at the moment, so if you don't understand, don't worry, I'll update as soon as I can and it should become clearer.**

 **Thank you for reading, a review would be much appreciated.**

 **Have a nice evening, see ya tomorrow with a new chapter hopefully!**


	2. The Big Bad Wolf

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **Hopefully things will become clearer in this chapter.**

 **Oh, and towards the end a song comes on, if you're confused as to what it is, it's _'A Thosand Years' by Christina Perri. I really love that song!_**

 **Please read and review, thanks!**

* * *

Mara got home with a wide smile on her face. She pulled open the front door and found her husband sprawled on the couch with a bowl of popcorn, his eyes glued on the TV screen.

"Whatcha watching'?" She asked sweetly, perching on the parts of the couch he hadn't occupied.

"M'othing", he mumbled his mouth full of popcorn, he flicked off the TV and turned to Mara, swallowing down the popcorn and smiling at her.

"Yea right, was that Spider-Man I saw?" Ronnie blushed deeply as Mara smirked at him.

"Perhaps..." he hissed, leaning close for a kiss. Mara leaned in, but placed a finger over his lips before they could meet, grinning teasingly.

"Well put it back on", she grabbed the popcorn and shovelled a handful in her mouth, then she kissed him on his confused lips, laughing as she pulled away and spraying bits of popcorn over his lap. Ronnie proceeded to throw some kernels at his still chuckling wife and he practically wrestled the popcorn off her, pulling her close to him.

"We're you trying to steal my popcorn?" He raised his eyebrows as her hand stuck into the bowl. Mara snuggled herself into his side, ignoring his question and helping herself to the popcorn. "What's mine is yours I guess", laughed Ronnie, sticking the film back on and wrapping his arm around his wife.

* * *

The BAU got in early the next day, working on a profile for wolf. Garcia had set herself up in the computer lab, but she wasn't getting along with Conner one bit. Reid was studying the map, trying to form a geographical profile when he heard Penelope shout out.

"Was this you Jacobs!? Oh come on!" She marched out with several of her figurines clutched in her hands.

"What's wro..." Reid started, but Garcia angrily interrupted.

"What's wrong?! I'll tell you what's wrong, that overbearing, evil little toad threw my things in the trash! Look!" She shoved the contents of her palms under Reid's nose and he recoiled. The small colourful figurines were covered in the reminents of someone's lunch, no doubt Jacobs'. "It's so gross! I had to fish them all out of the bin and..urgh" she heaved at the memory, "I'm setting up in here." She insisted with finality, leaving the room and heading for the toilet to wash her possessions. Morgan smiled as she walked by, but her eyes were locked on the bathroom and her lip was quivering with rage.

"What was that about?" Morgan asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Conner put her...uh what would you call them? Figurines? Those random things she keeps on her desk, he put them in the bin. Let's just say she didn't take too kindly to it." Reid said. Morgan guffawed and rubbed his face.

"Can't say I'm surprised, it's literally been 24 hours and they're already at each other's throats."

"I don't blame Garcia , Conner can be an asshole", Reid shrugged and turned back to his map. Morgan was a little taken aback, but he smirked and took a seat.

"Well, well, I've been waiting years to hear Dr Spencer Reid say 'asshole"", he made exaggerated finger movements on the word "asshole", chuckling when Reid turned around, pouting indignantly.

"I've said it before", Reid objected, swivelling back to his map, and whilst his back was turned Morgan mimicked what he just said with his hand and shook his head at the young genius.

Harper and Stanley walked into the conference room, coffee in hand.

"Found anything on that map?" Stanley asked, opening the file with his one finger. Spencer didn't answer so he looked up.

"Spencer?" Reid's mouth was moving his eyes screwed up. Morgan grinned at Stanley and mouthed "in the zone" and Stanley laughed.

"Huh?" Reid looked around at the sound of laughter.

"I said have you found anything?" Stanley reiterated, taking a big swig of coffee.

"Oh right, sorry. Uh, from the previous dumpsites, I've triangulated that the next one will be in this area", he pulled the lid off a red marker and circled a small area on the map, "or here," and he circled another spot close by.

"You sure, kid?" Harper said, which made Reid and Morgan give him an of-course-I'm/he's-sure look. Harper chuckled, "I'll have officers on stand by at each loacation."

Just then Amelia bounced in.

"Another body's been found", she announced unhappily.

"Where?" Stanley frowned.

Amelia walked up to the map and pointed at a spot in the centre of Reid's red ring, marked by a pin.

"Great", sighed Harper. "Amelia, you and Derek go to the crime scene, see what you can find." The two left. Reid went back to his map, trying to figure out the next location.

* * *

"His name was Marcus Lunsford, age 27. He worked at the local Walmart." Amelia looked down at the victim, or what was left of the victim. He was ripped to shreds. Most of his face was still intact (though one eye had been squelched beneath a set of thick jaws). Muscle and flesh was torn from the bone, blood and fragments of skin and fat peppered the dusty floor.

"What the hell did this?" Whispered Amelia, glancing away, disgusted by the sight of the mutilated flesh.

"Dog or a wolf, if you ask me. It's likely he was still alive during the attack", Morgan said, cringing at the white bone that had been uncovered by savage teeth.

"I don't understand. This guy is different again, and the method of murder is..." she looked down and felt bile rise through her throat. "Urgh, can we go, I can't stand looking at this." Morgan agreed, the smell penetrating his nostrils and almost making him heave as well.

* * *

"I come bearing donuts!" Mara exclaimed, slamming the box on the table in front of the working agents and detectives and smiling giddily.

"You are an angel sent from the heavens!" Praised Garcia, stealing one and biting into it lustfully.

"What are you doing in here?" Mara asked, taking a donut herself and sliding into the seat next to Garcia.

"2 words: Conner Jacobs", she groaned, taking another enriching mouthful of donut. Mara giggled, trying to imagine the two coming to blows.

"Fair enough", she looked around the table. Hotch and Rossi were studying their files, but took a donut each gratefully. Stanley, lunged for the box, throwing a sugary delight at Harper. Stanley returned to his paperwork and Harper remained staring at Reid, who was stood near the board, his brain pulsating with an idea. JJ and Emily were opposite Garcia and they were chatting, not having much else to do. Alex was in the computer lab going through some things with Matthew and Conner, _god help her,_ thought Mara.

"I've sent images and info on the latest victim to your tablets." Garcia informed them, typing away madly. Rossi handed his tablet to Reid, who stared at the images intently, his eyes going wide.

"Please put us out of our miseries. You've been thinking for at least an hour and you haven't said a word", moaned Rossi, Reid looked at him with puzzlement.

"Where'd you come from?" He asked surprise, his eyes also landing on the rest of the team who hadn't been there before.

"Exactly," exclaimed Rossi in exasperation, making the others laugh.

Amelia staggered in looking a little pale, with Morgan on her heels.

"You guys don't want to see that", huffed Amelia, leaning heavily against the wall. She gaped at Morgan when he took a donut and started munching contently on it.

"It was a mess", Derek mumbled through donut, Garcia shook her head disapprovingly at his lack of manners.

"Yea, we've seen. Looks like some kind of animal finished him off", Stanley grimaced.

"Pretty sure it started and finished him. Our victim was alive during the attack, there were sighs of self defence and there was fur beneath his nails." Morgan explained, swiftly finishing his donut. Reid was still muttering to himself.

"Right, come on Genius, out with it", Sighed Rossi. Reid didn't answer him, all eyes were on him, most of them were rolling at him. Spencer closed his eyes and then snapped them open and shot off to the board, grabbing a pen and scribbling across the board. He rearranged the photos and the names next to them and wrote a list of names down in black marker.

"Spence?" JJ glanced at him worriedly.

"I knew there was something", he mumbled, more to himself than anyone else.

"Knew what?" Asked Amelia, who had seemed to recover and was chewing on a donut.

"The connection", he blurted, surveying them all. "The victims are surrogates."

"For who?" Hotch's brow furrowed, worried what sort of theory Spencer might come up with. Spencer bit his lip thinking of a way to explain it.

"This team", he motioned to the detectives. "First victim had his hair cut short, but it was already black and then he was dressed in jeans and a shirt. He's a surrogate for Conner." The team looked at each other, thinking deeply. Reid took a breath and began rambling again. "Victim 2 looked and was dressed like Harper, he was also a similar age. Victim 3 had long blonde hair and was the same age range as Mara, she was even dressed in a similar style to you. Vic..."

"Reid, this is a good theory, but the method of each kill is different..." Hotch cut into Reid's explanation, but Spencer bravely interrupted Hotch.

"I can explain that too", Hotch folded his arms expectantly.

"Harper, what's your biggest fear?" Reid asked politely. Harper looked a little shocked, but he straightened up quickly.

"I'm claustrophobic, so tight spaces can make me paralytic", he admitted honestly, Reid drew a line from Harper's name (which Reid had written on the board) and linked it to the second victim.

"Victim 2 was buried alive. Mara?" Reid turned his gaze on Mara.

"Drowning", she said and her name was connected to the third victim.

"So he's killing based on each of our fears?" Stanley questioned and Reid nodded vigorously.

"Yes. He's killing people who he believes represent you and he kills based on each of your fears." Reid confirmed, linking the rest of the names to the photos. "I assume Conner's biggest fear is spiders," he said linking him to the first victim who had died from spider bites, "and Matthew's is dogs or wolves."

"What about Amelia's? He stabbed Laura in the abdomen and then slit her throat, where's the fear in that?" Emily pointed out, looking from Spencer to Amelia.

"I have an idea", Spencer said quietly, looking down at his purple converse. They all watched him with expectancy, but it was Amelia to answer.

"I..uh." She took a deep breath. "My last relationship ended after I miscarried our baby. So.. ...I guess Jason caught on. That's why I haven't had any relationships since..." Mara looked down at her file as her sister spoke. She already knew this. They all watched sympathetically as Amelia struggle on her words.

"Your biggest fear is losing another child", JJ finished and Amelia nodded weakly.

"The 4th victim was stabbed typically where the fetus would be", Reid said sadly.

"So we know who he will be targeting next, d'you have the next dumpsite mapped out?" Rossi glanced at Reid, who pointed at where he'd marked on the map. "If he sticks to his schedule, the next body will turn up in a week."

* * *

Mara got home to find a note from her husband, informing her he wouldn't be home that night, having left for a short business trip that morning. She sighed and flung her bag on the kitchen counter. She put her IPod in the speaker sat on a chest of drawers. She flicked through the songs landing on one of her favourites to compliment her mood.

She moved gracefully around the room, closing her eyes and recalling her first dance with her husband.

She closed the curtains and twirled to the soft music.

 _Lost in your love,_

 _like a sign from above..._

Mara locked the door.

She hummed along with the words as she began pouring herself a glass of wine.

The high pitched soprano filled the house.

Something clunked down the hallway.

 _Time stands still_ , the voice continued.

She set down her wine glass and peered down the hall.

 _I loved you..._ the note held as Mara leaned her head down the hall.

"Ronnie?" She called out quietly, reaching for her gun.

 _I will be brave_

She aimed her gun and slowly tiptoed further into her house.

 _You let me in,_

 _and now I'm free,_

 _I never knew what was standing right in front of me_

She got part way down the hallway, her breaths shallow and full of panic. Suddenly she felt a cloth and a rough hand cover her nose and mouth. She tried to turn, but her attacker was stronger and held her in place as she involuntarily breathed in the nose tingling scent, lingering on the rag.

 _Every breath,_

She felt the fight leave her, her eyelids growing heavy,

 _Every touch,_ the voice started to ebb away with the music.

Mara went limp in her attackers arms. He let her slump to the floor.

 _I have died everyday_

 _waiting for you_

Jason Wolf allowed the music to play on as he dragged an unconscious Mara out of the back door.

The song died away after a few minutes and the house fell silent.

TBC.

* * *

 **Sorry about the cliffhanger! Things are starting to get serious.**

 **Hopefully I'll have an update for you tomorrow.**

 **Please leave a review, it'd make me super happy.**

 **I just updated this, I reasoned I had a song in this, whoops, so that song that your read parts of is completly random rubbish, so I apologise.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	3. Escalation

**(Disclaimer: I don't own criminal minds or it's characters ):**

 **Thanks for the reviews!**

 **Cmpreston- you make me soooo happy, I love you! Please post some of your own fanfiction, I'm desperate to read them!**

 **Tannerrose5- I like that band, my friend has a little obsession with it, but I do like most of their covers.**

 **Sorry about the cliffy in the last chapter, all shall be revealed.**

 **2 chapters today, because the next one is short.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Garcia, have you found anything on Wolf's new identity", Hotch rubbed his eyes. They'd been there for around 3 hours already and they were at a dead end.

"No sir, not yet, but there's some information about Jason Wolf that's been blocked. I'm trying to hack into it, but it's difficult and...uh...not strictly legal", she said the last part a bit quieter for only Hotch to hear.

"We have several locations that may be connected to Wolf", Stanley offered. Harper got up from his seat, bored at the lack of action, his stomach was also rolling around, hungry for a donut.

"We should all check out the different locations see what we can find. Then we'll work on his connections. Where is Mara?" He and his stomarch groaned. The others looked around, realising the young detective wasn't there yet.

"I'll text her and Ronnie. He was on a buissness trip and wasn't back till about noon", she glanced at her watch, "he should be back before too long."

"Good. She better get here soon, I'm in dire need of a donut." Huffed Harper.

"How should we split up? There are 5 locations", Hotch folded his arms and looked thoughtfully at Harper.

"Amelia and Reid, you guys go to the boat house. Morgan and Rossi, take the second location. JJ and Stanley, the third. Me and Alex will take the forth and Hotch and Emily, you guys can check out his storage unit." Harper instructed and they all split up with their partners.

* * *

"This place hadn't been used for years", mused Reid, wandering around the abandoned boats. Amelia was looking down at her phone. "What's up?" Reid asked, watching her frown deepen.

"It's just that Mara hasn't replied at all. I mean she can be slow, but I haven't seen her today either, so..." she snapped her phone shut and smiled at Spencer. "I'm sure she's fine."

"Hey, you don't have to brush it off. Shall we stop off at her place?" Spencer offered, sensing the anxiety in Amelia.

"Not right now. We have a job to do", he nodded and continued walking by the boats, leaving footprints in the dust.

"Jeez, you're right. Doesn't look like anything has gotten in here." She swiped her finger across the boat, gathering a thick dust pile. She watched as Spencer walked ahead of her. She eyed him greedily, grinning. She wanted nothing more than to sink her finger tips into his brown curls.

"He could've got out of the country for a while and came back when 'Jason Wolf' was a forgotten identity", suggested Reid, turning to his ginger partner, who had been watching him and suddenly looked away, her cheeks reddening.

She edged closer to him, not making eye contact. "There's nothing here." She whispered, drawing closer.

"Should...uh should we go?" Reid swallowed thickly as Amelia pulled herself right up to him. He inhaled quickly when he smelt her perfume.

"We don't have to go just yet", her lips teased his, as they lingered close by. She could feel his hot, nervous breath on her mouth. Spencer blinked not knowing what to do. They'd only kissed once before at Mara's wedding, but they were drunk then. This was different. Their lips were close enough to touch.

"We can't..." Reid started, feeling extremely unprofessional, when Amelia's lips latched onto his. He pulled away suddenly, holding Amelia back, looking shocked. Amelia's smile fell, but before she could turn she felt Spencer's lips back on hers, and this time they didn't hold back. She held his face lovingly in her soft palms and his fingers grabbed her waist, pulling her body close to him. They broke apart for a breath, but once again became absorbed by each other's lips.

"We..' Reid broke off, before kissing her again.

"Shouldn't..." he tried again, another kiss ensued.

This time Amelia broke it off, "oh shut up" she sighed, kissing him firmly and stopping him from speaking again. They didn't notice themselves moving as they kissed. When they finally released each other Amelia was sat on the counter, where Reid had lifted her and had been leaning down kissing Spencer.

"Oh shit", she laughed looking around.

"What?" Reid fretted, fearing that she already regretted the kiss - or the several kisses.

"Look at the trail we left", she giggled, pointing to the tracks they'd left across the dusty floor and as she jumped off the counter they saw the patterns disturbed in the dust. "We kind of made it obvious what we were doing." Reid blushed and set to work cleaning the dust to make it look like they hadn't had a kissing frenzy.

Reid's phone beeped and interrupted their content silence.

 _Get back now.- Hotch._

Reid frowned at his phone and shut it quickly.

"Hotch wants us back. It looks urgent." Amelia nodded, taking Spencer's hand in hers.

"We'll check on Mara after, that's if she's not already there. She better be; I need a donut." They walked to the SUV, smiling slyly after each other and what they'd just done.

* * *

"Calm down Ron. Amelia's on her way", Stanley patted the man's shoulder.

"Calm down! She's missing! Did none of you notice?!" He spat harshly, tears falling from his gray eyes. "If I had b...been h...home", he sniffed, looking down at the table. The team exchanged sympathetic looks.

Harper and Stanley sat by the younger man, trying to comfort him, though inside they were struggling to keep their cool. Alex was stood next to Garcia trying to comfort her. She had broken down into sobs upon hearing that the youngest detective was missing and had been for god knows how long. JJ, Emily and Hotch were stood by the board, looking on sadly. They were all full of worry for their missing friend.

"Rossi and Morgan are on their way back too", Hotch informed them, his mask of seiousness was securely in place, but behind it was fear and anxiety.

"Ronnie, I need to know a few things, okay? I'm just gonna ask a few questions", Harper said kindly, keeping his voice soft as to calm and console the crying man. Ronnie wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded weakly.

"Were their signs of a struggle, or any blood?" Ronnie shook his head, and the room filled with sighs of relief.

"B..but I..I found her gun o..on the floor in the middle of the h..hallway. O..other than t..that everything was n..normal", he took in a deep breath to control his hiccups.

"Did the bed look like it had been slept in?" Ronnie shook his head again.

"w..we always make it in the m..morning and it was made."

"She could've slept in it if she was taken this morning," JJ muttered. Ronnie shook his head sadly at the blonde (his heart ached when he saw the agent as she reminded him of his wife.)

"H..Her clothes weren't in the wash bin and her pyjamas w..were where she'd left them yesterday morning." He stuttered.

"He took her last night", hissed Stanley, looking away at the opposite wall.

"W...was it that Wolf guy? She t..told me, she...she..." he broke off into another sob.

"Ronnie, listen to me. We are going to find her", Harper took the man's face firmly looking into his watery eyes.

"I can't...I..I don't know what I would do without her", he whispered. Micheal wrapped his arms around the shivering man and held him tight.

"What's going on Hotch? We were on our way back when you text", Morgan walked in and saw Mara's husband embracing Micheal. Last time he'd seen Ronnie was at a Christmas party 3 months before. The guy had been incredibly happy at the party and he wasn't even drunk. Now he was a sobbing wreck. Morgan exchanged a look with Rossi.

"Mara's missing", Hotch was straight to the point and left his agents gaping.

"When?" Morgan asked, "how?" Rossi jibbed as if it was a quick fire round of questions.

"Some time last night. There were no signs of a fight, so the attacker must have subdued her quickly."

"It was that mother-f..fucker", spat Ronnie, pulling himself from Micheal. "W..Wolf.

"Are we sure about that?" Rossi asked, knowing the probability was working in Wolf's favour.

"Who else!?" Snapped Ronnie. He suddenly looked ashamed of himself, and sunk down into his chair. "Sorry..." he muttered.

"Don't apologise. You have every right to be pissed right now", Morgan placed a hand on Ronnie's shoulder.

"Does Amelia know?" Rossi looked around and everyone seemed to avoid his eye.

"No. She and Reid are on their way now." Just then Conner and Matthew walked in with some paperwork. Conner strode in with a casual swagger as if he owned the place.

"I thought you came here to work", he smirked, giving the agents a smug smile. "I guess it's just me and Matt _actually_ doing our job." Ronnie stood up then and shoved Conner into the opposing wall. Conner smacked into it, glaring at Ronnie. Hotch pulled Ronnie back and he seemed to go limp in his arms.

"What the hell..." Conner seethed, straightening his glasses and heading over to retaliate. Micheal stopped him.

"Mara's missing", he recited, which swiped all anger from Conner's face. Matthew stood up straighter and looked around for confirmation.

"Are you serious?", panted Matthew, his voice quavering. He was answered by several solemn nods. "Oh God", he stumbled back, dropping the paper work on the floor and sliding down the wall.

Conner stood for a minute, swaying at the news, not knowing what to say. He was extremely fond of Mara, her and Matthew would put up with him, even when he was cruel to them. He swallowed thickly, processing that his friend was missing. He stepped back from the group. He breath hitched and he fumbled his way out of the room.

"I've never seen him shut up so fast", Ronnie half-heartedly laughed, looking out of the room sadly. It was as if he was waiting for Mara to walk in.

As if to answer his prayers she walked in. His face lit up.

His eyes found her face and his smile faltered. _Mara doesn't have ginger hair_ , he thought.

Amelia walked in the conference room and Ronnie smiled up at her as if she were an angel. His smile soon vanished.

"Hey, Ronald! What brings you here?" She asked, smiling teasingly at her brother in law. He didn't answer, instead a quiet sob lept from his throat.

"Ronnie?" She asked. _Wait, where's Mara?_ Her brain started to piece it together. She gazed around. "Where's Mara?" She stammered.

"H..he took her", whimpered Ronnie, not looking up. Amelia reminded him too much of his wife.

"Who!? What's going on?!" She demanded, feeling tears fill her eyes. Spencer came up behind her and looked around confused.

"WOLF!" Shouted Ronnie. "He has her! He has Mara!"

* * *

It had taken a good 2 hours for Amelia to calm down. She had sobbed and shouted at everyone in the room. She was sat with her knees up to her chin, just staring at the board with her sisters picture on.

 _I was having fun. I should have been looking for her. She could be dead and I was kissing Spencer._ Her head was punishing her; blaming her.

She flinched when a hand fell on her shoulder. She looked up and found Spencer's hazel eyes watching her nervously.

"Sorry..." she muttered, recalling how she had blamed Spencer for her sister being missing.

 _"Amelia we are doing our best." Micheal said quietly._

 _"I don't care! She's been missing since last night and what have we been doing? Nothing! Fuck!" She screamed, smacking her fist on the table. Spencer touched arm, but she shrugged him off. "Get off me! This is your fault!" She pushed him away, and Spencer stumbled back and didn't come close again. He backed himself into the corner, sunk to the floor and covered his face, whilst Amelia stormed around._

Spencer hadn't spoken to anyone since and they all seemed confused as to why Amelia blamed him. He knew. _You were kissing her and her sister was missing the whole time._ He knew, logically, that it wasnt his fault Mara was gone, but he felt guilty for not even realising.

The rest of the team were working on finding Mara, but they were coming up empty.

"I understand", Spencer said, taking a seat next to Amelia. She frowned at him, not angry though, all that rage had left her.

"How?"

"Before the Callen case, I...I had a girlfriend, who was kidnapped", he mumbled. Amelia suddenly felt extremely guilty.

"Did you find her? Is...is she okay?" Croaked Amelia. Spencer looked at her sadly. He was about to open his mouth and answer when Micheal walked in, looking grave

"Another body has been found." Everyone's attention was on him now.

"Who is it, Micheal?" Amelia said calmly, staring him dead in the eyes. He didn't answer, closing his eyes.

"Who is it!?" She shouted, the calmness ebbing away, anger taking its place. She stood up. "Micheal! IS IT HER?!" She screamed, Micheal opened his eyes to see Amelia collapse to the floor in a sobbing heap.

"Please..." she whimpered, "please tell me it's not her, Micheal, please..."

* * *

 **Like I said this is a double parter, I shall upload the next chapter an hour after this one.**

 **I will see you in an hour.**


	4. Mara

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters.)**

 **Second half to this two part chapter, enjoy...**

* * *

Mara woke up in a cold and quiet room. She was tied up, her arms bound tightly behind her, her legs wrapped up and duck tape strapped harshly over her lips. She struggled against the bonds, her eyes stinging with tears and her breath coming out ragged. She tried to scream against the tape, wetting her lips to try and remove it. She flailed around for several minutes like a fish out of water, struggling for oxygen.

"Calm down, detective", a deep and rough voice hissed from a dark corner of the room. Mara stilled, she tried to control her breathing, but it came too quickly from her nostils and she could feel herself panicking as her lungs tightened.

"You're the youngest member, aren't you?" Cooed the cold voice, still hidden in the shadows, in a place where Mara's red, tired eyes couldn't reach. "You always were. Brand new when I still worked there. You and your sister. Oh she will be upset when she finds you." Though she couldn't see him, Mara imagined the Cheshire Cat smile spreading over his lips in sick delight.

"Murphf", she tried to shout at him, but the tape kept her voice muffled.

"You did have quite a mouth on you. I couldn't stand for that. Still can't. I prefer silence; tranquility", he sighed happily as Mara yelled out behind the tape again. "I see you don't enjoy that as much as I do. Don't worry, I'll fix that." She heard his footsteps near her, she tried to turn her head around to get a look at him, but her grabbed her face and held it away from him.

"Did you know wolves are opportunists. They seek out the weakest link, and they work together in a surprise," a needle sunk into Mara's neck, causing her to yelp, "...attack. I expect that young Dr Reid could've told you that. He and you seem to share similarities. You're both desired targets for wolves, being the youngest and the weakest."

Mara tried to yell "I'm not weak" but her voice didn't seem to work. She tried again. The injection that Jason had jammed into her neck had sent a strange warm, tingling sensation through her throat.

"Ah, its working." He came into view, and Mara recoiled at seeing his face again. She rememebred those chiselled features and the cruel, sharp angles of his face. He smiled wryly at her, holding up a bottle. "Drain cleaner. You're the first human I've tried it on. Seems like it works", he ripped the tape off her mouth and she went to scream obscenities at him, but nothing came from her throat. She shouted, but only an extremely quite whimper was heard.

"Isn't that better?" He exhaled deeply, closing his eyes at the silence. Mara cried harder, tears blurring Jason from her vision. _Help, please. Amelia, please..._ she begged in her mind, knowing her voice would no longer do as she commanded. Wolf reached out and stroked the young detective's hair from out of her tear stained face. Mara flinched and tried to cringe away from the invading fingers.

"So pretty", he hissed. "I'm not like other wolves, I don't follow their rules. If I were like a real wolf, Matthew would be lay here not you, seeing as he's the weakest. But I just had to have you. It was your fault after all. You tried to negotiate with that kid, Stephen was it? I could've just taken him out, we don't negotiate with terrorists, and that's what he was, it doesn't matter if that mother got in the way, taking him out was our mission, and you screwed it up." He yanked her hair up before slamming it into the floor. "You've brought this on yourself", he muttered, standing up and looking down at her with disgust.

"It's your turn to suffer", he grabbed her legs and pulled. Mara tried to yell as she was pulled into another room, but her vocal chords only released pitiful sounds. The next room was brighter, a light swinging from the ceiling. Jason pushed Mara onto her knees and she started crying again. There was a second man in this room.

"Didn't I tell you that wolves hunt in packs?" He chuckled, circling her like a shark waiting to attack.

"Can she scream?" The other voice cut in. This voice was younger and of a higher pitch, but it was still laced with an unforgiving coldness.

"Nope, we're just enjoying each other's company at the moment", Jason smiled down at Mara, who was silently crying, her mouth open to release sobs, but little noise made it out of her mouth. He watched her, on her knees, struggling to keep her balance and soundlessly pleading to live.

"What are we waiting for?" The younger man asked, coming nearer. Jason held up a hand to the young man, halting him.

"It's nice to watch them. A little bit of false hope doesn't hurt anybody", Mara's lips trembled at this. _You're not getting out of this one. No-ones coming to save you._ She gasped at the realisation and was ready to sob unindurable, but she held her mouth closed and looked bravely into Wolf's eyes. If she was going to die, she'd do it as a strong individual. Even as the light left her eyes, she would hold herself with dignity. Jason's smile faltered at the sudden courage Mara showed.

"Yea, you're right. Let's get on with this". Strong hands cut the cable tie around Mara's wrists and feet. Mara tried to get away, but the hands of the younger man were stronger. He held her tight as she kicked out at him. A scraping of metal on the concrete floor echoed through the building. Mara glanced up to see Jason pulling over a tank filled with water.

"Bring her over." Mara knew what was going to happen, so she fought fiercely. She smacked her head back, hearing a dull whack, she pulled her hands away from her captor, spinning around and landing a knee in the groin of the younger man, who was already bent double. _You can do this._ She stumbled on her feet as she dashed for the door. _Almost there, you can..._ she felt the floor under her disappear and her back greeted it with searing agony. Wolf grabbed her under the armpits and yanked her over to the middle of the room again. She squirmed and hit, but the grasp on her remained strong.

Mara felt herself thrown to the ground and before she could move, Wolf was on her.

"You can't get away this time", he grunted, securing her in place with his strong body. He had her knelt next to the trough. She tried everything to disarm him, but the lock he had on her was paralysing. He took hold of her hair again, keeping her head held above the trough of water for a few seconds, teasing his sadistic desire.

"You're not really a fan of water, are you?" He laughed, plunging Mara's head into the water. He had to hold on tight as she struggled feverishly.

Mara's face hit the water, before she could take another breath. Instantly she released the little air she had in her lungs and started panicking. Her hearing was muffled, but she heard the muffled bangs of her arms hitting the trough reverberating through the water and the grunts of Jason as he tried to keep her head under. She needed to breath, her lungs begged for air. She began to convulse with the need; bucking against Jason's hand to try and breath in the air outside of the trough. Her head was pushed more harshly into the water, and Mara bucked harder the need for air grew too strong and she tried to breath underwater. Her lungs replenished, but it wasn't with air. Her whole body contorted as she choked on the water that had just invaded her body. _Need air_ , and she tried to breath again, but only choked instead. The insatiable want for oxygen disappeared and the unrelently pain ceased. Her body stopped convulsing. She felt calm under the water, her blurred vision replaced with a pretty light. She followed the light, away from the cold, dark room, to a new place.

She heard the slow thumping of her heart finally give up.

* * *

 **That was depressing, sorry.**

 **I will update tomorrow.**


	5. The Discovery

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **S** **orry to leave you with that last chapter, that was a little cruel. And that break! Sorry about that, I probably wo** **n't be uploading everyday, I'll try to update this story as regularly as my other one.**

 **I know it was only an OC death, but I still feel a bit sad over it. She was always going to die, when I wrote 'Don't let go' I had planned her to be murdered in a further chapter.**

 **That sounds really evil, I'm sorry!**

"The body...i..it hasn't been formally identified yet. We need to investigate", Micheal wrung his hands nervously, his eyes avoiding the hysterical detective on the floor.

"It's not her. It's not her", Amelia whispered to herself and Micheal exchanged a look with Stanley.

"He's not saying that", Stanley uttered calmly. Amelia shook her head, placing her palms over her ears. Seeing his detective growing more distraught, Micheal pulled Stanley to the door.

"Stanley, Hotch, come with me to the crime scene, we..." but Spencer cut in.

"I'll come." Micheal went to interject when Ronnie stood up (a little shakily, but holding his ground.)

"And me."

"No. You aren't even on the force. You won't be allowed on the scene."

"Then I'll stay in the car. I...I need to know. Please."Micheal looked into Ronnie's sad, tired eyes. "I'll stay in the car. I swear."

"Micheal, we can't..."

"Fine, but you must stay in the car". Micheal turned to leave with Ronni darting out after him. Stanley gaped at his back, and glanced at Hotch and Spencer. _This is not a good idea,_ he thought.

They pulled up at the crime scene and parked the SUV. None of them moved from the car for a good minute. They stared at the small bungalow. The windows were boarded up and graffiti painted each side of the building.

Hotch was the first to crack open his door. Then Spencer, then Stanley. Ronnie snapped off his seatbelt, but one look from Harper made him regret the move.

"Don't move", chided Harper, sliding from his seat. Hotch, Spencer and Stanley were already at the front door. "I mean it", he warned before slamming the door.

"Stanley?" Harper pushed open the front door, but only saw local law enforcement officers and not the detective.

"In here", came Spencer's quiet voice from the room to his left. He swallowed thickly and shuffled into the room.

The floor was littered with small puddles, leaking agonisingly into the wooden floorboards. The room was completely empty, bar a metal trough filled part way with water and small yellow signs to mark the evidence. Oh and also the body, lay strewn across the floor, beside the water trough. Stanley was looking at the body, his face stony.

"Stanley?" Micheal edged nearer. His eyes caught the long blonde hair, parts of which were still wet against the victims skull. Her arms were splayed out in unnatural angles, further proclaiming her lack of life. The clothes she was wearing were damp and torn, crinkling against pale flesh. Harper had seen those clothes before. He knelt down by the victims face. Her lips were blue against her cold, dead skin. Her eyes were open slightly, revealing her light green eyes; eyes that Harper could recognise any day.

He stood up all too quickly, staggering back.

"I..it..it's..." Hotch laid a hand on the older man's shoulder. Harper felt his eyes well as he looked into Mara's clouded, lifeless eyes. "I...I can't...I can't be here." He was the team leader, he had to hold it together, but he was struggling.

"Ronnie", muttered Stanley, his voice breaking, forcing him to turn from the team.

"I'll tell him", volunteered Hotch.

"No," Reid whispered, he looked up at Hotch and they seemed to understand each other. "I'll do it".

Micheal stepped out of the house, with Stanley in tow. He tried not to blink, for every time he closed his eyes the set of still green eyes that had belonged to his detective bombarded his vision. He lent up against the rough stone wall and watched as Spencer nobly walked to the car, he could tell Reid was trying to control his shaking legs. The door of the SUV opened and Ronnie tentatively slid out. Harper observed as Ronnie shook his head defiantly, his face blank with shock. He watched as the young man stumbled into Spencer's grasp and how his body convulsed with sobs. Spencer held him tight, Ronnie's cries of "no" drifted towards Stanley and Micheal and they shuddered, holding back their own tears. Spencer's strength was beginning to fail him, his knees were wobbling and on the verge of buckling beneath him.

Spencer felt his chest tighten and his ability to breath vacated him. He rasped as he held on to a distraught Ronnie. Luckily a strong hand caught him before he collapsed.

"Spencer, you need to breath", Harper instructed, his hand lay supportively on Reid's back.

"I...I need...I can't", Spencer's breathing grew heavier as he staggered back, holding his chest tight. "Gotta...get out.." he fell back into the SUV, trying to get away, to catch his breath. _This isn't happening, it's not happening, it's_ , his head whirred with unwelcome thoughts and images, he saw Mara's body imprinted on his eidetic memory. Why did everyone think his mind was a blessing, he never forgot, he couldn't forget.

Micheal didn't go to Spencer, he too felt a consuming claustrophobia clawing at his insides.

"I want to see her", demanded Ronnie, wiping tears away and attempting to look composed.

"No." Micheal deadpanned, trying to hide his emotion.

"Please, Micheal, I need to", Ronnie pleaded, still holding himself together

"And I will not let you see her that way", snapped Harper. He put his hand on Ronnie's shoulder, unintentionally letting a tear slip through the barricades.

Spencer had an arm wrapped around his abdomen, he was desperately trying to steady his breathing. Black spots threatened to consume his vision. He thought he was about to greet the floor when Hotch pulled him back up.

"Reid. Spencer. I need you to focus. We need to tell her team", Hotch slid an arm under Reid and helped him to the door.

Hotch glanced at Reid as they drove off. His breathing was still off, but the cool window against his forehead seemed to calm him. They remained silent, Spencer's heavy breathing was the only noise to fill the car.

One of Reid's breaths caught and he broke down into sobs. His hair fell over his eyes as he pressed his hands against them to cease the tears. _You're weak,_ he thought to himself, hiccuping. Hotch shifted uncomfortable, the outburst reminding him of Maeve's death.

"This w...will destroy her", he stuttered through hiccups. Hotch suddenly felt very heavy. He had lost his soulmate twice; once through divorce, and then in death. He couldn't even begin to imagine loosing his brother.

"If this is too personal for you..." Hotch began.

"No. Everyone's involved in this personally, we have to keep going. We have to catch this son of a bitch", On any other occasion Hotch would have been shocked at his agent's language, he might of even smiled, but not today.

When they got back (which went a lot quicker than they hoped), they found the conference room bursting with the two teams. Amelia was sat in a swivel chair, stroking her hair and staring at the pattern in the carpet, her legs pulled up under chin. Spencer avoided her eyes, which were the same green as her dead sisters. In fact he avoided looking at her at all due to her startling likeness to Mara which he hadn't noticed this much before.

"Amelia, it was Mara." Micheal gulped, wishing he could hide from the heartbroken faces of his team and the BAU.

"She's gone, I'm so sorry", Harper said calmly, somehow managing to look her straight in the eyes. The life in her light green eyes offered him comfort and pushed back the images of Mara's dead green eyes.

Amelia continued to look at the carpet, not speaking, not moving. Tears fell, but nothing else twitched.

Matthew choked up.

"I...I'll be in the...uh...the lab, if you..." he rushed out, his hand over his mouth as if he was going to be sick.

"You're not serious. She can't be. Mara, our Mara? Dead?" Conner dribbled out, fumbling with his glasses which were steaming up. Micheal only offered him a nod and Conner's breath picked up pace. "I should see if Matthews okay", he didn't wait for a reply, he couldn't let his team see him break.

"Oh God", bleated Garcia, pressing her hand to her forehead and shaking it back and forth.

JJ stood next to Emily, both had their arms crossed, JJ's mouth slightly agape and her eyes rimmed with red, whereas Emily managed to remain stern and professional, though her heart tore apart at the news. Rossi glanced to Reid who's eyes were also red from old tears and his hands were trembling badly. The kid needed a hug.

"Amelia?" Spencer croaked, trying to coax the Detective's eyes from the floor. She didn't look away from the carpet, but the tears fell faster. Spencer inched over to her and knelt beside her. "Amelia?" He whispered, pushing the hair from her eyes.

"Stop Spence. Just leave me alone", she muttered. She kept her eyes on the carpet, hoping that focusing on the simplistic pattern would keep her mind from reality. Reid stayed where he was, feeling rejected and hurt, but hiding it from the detective. He took her hand gentle, stroking his long fingers across her knuckles. Amelia released a sob, and pulled her hand from his; she wasn't ready for reality.

"Dectectives, agents, the evidence has just come in", Angela smiled sympathetically, she wished she got to play with the evidence bags like her co-workers, but she had to investigate the bodies, this one belonging to a friend.

They all nodded, heading off to the metallic table containing bags of evidence.

"What's this?" Rossi asked, examining a water damaged slip of paper. Hotch frowned and examined the note.

"We weren't in the house long enough to actually investigate", mumbled Reid, recalling the need for all of them to get out of the place where their friend was killed.

"What's it say?" Conner hobbled out of the computer lab, pushing his glasses up his nose. Rossi cleared his throat and read the note aloud.

" _13 little ducks went swimming one day, over the hills and far away. Mama duck said quack quack quack quack and 12 little ducks came swimming on back."_ Rossi turned the bag around and saw a small illustration of a dead duckling, floating in the river.

"He's referring to us", Spencer announced. "There's 14 of us including Harper, but he refers to you as the Mama duck. He's uh...picking us off, one by one." He looked around sadly, pointing to the dark drawing, "Mara was first".

"Does that mean he's going to target us too?" Asked Penelope in a small, nervous voice.

"We're a team now, he sees us all as being against him", nodded Harper, making Penelope shiver.

"Let's get to work", Hotch said.

"Good, cus' I think I've found something. Well not something, it's more of a someone", Garcia grabbed her laptop and flipped it open, typing rapidly. She sounded tired, she seemed to have lost her bubbliness that accompanied her everywhere she went.

"Don't leave us hanging, baby girl", Morgan grumbled, leaning over Garcia, and holding her shoulder protectively.

"Family, I found his son. There was no evidence of his existence for several years. I had to dig real deep to find any existence of him at all, his records disappeared when Jason did, he was 17 at the time. He would be 23 now, but like I said, he's no longer in existence according to records."

"Did you know Jason had a son?" Hotch turned to Micheal, who just shook his head.

"He was a pretty private guy", he shrugged.

"Sons name is Lance Wolf." Garcia pulled up an image of a handsome teenager, with dishwasher blonde hair and his skin clung to his bones at sharp angles.

"What's the chances that Jason and Lance are working together?" Morgan sighed, kissing his teeth.

"So we're looking for a pack of wolves", Reid deadpanned. "Who are on the hunt."

 **Okay, so I'm working tomorrow so you may not see a chapter tomorrow, though I'm working on it, so fingers crossed.**

 **This wasn't very exciting, I'm sorry, I've written an action packed chapter, but there's a few more chapters to come first.**

 **(Jeez, anyone notice how much repetition just happened in those two paragraphs, I hate myself right now!)**

 **Thanks for reading, see ya!**


	6. Hiding In Plain Sight

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **Hey, I was kinda hoping to write a less depressing chapter today, I mean I still have to take into consideration that the team is still morning, but let's have a bit more action. Sorry it's a little short, but I'm swamped at the moment.**

 **Let me know what you thought in the reviews.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Garcia, I want you to find anything you can on Lance Wolf, including anyone and everyone he had contact with", ordered Hotch.

"Already on it, Sir", Garcia winked, her fingers surfing over the keyboard

"Rossi and I could go interview Wayne Lemings, he was Wolf's closest associate", Morgan suggested, deciding he was getting bored of being cooped up in the office. Hotch dashed his plans with a simple look.

"Sorry Morgan, but none of us are leaving. All 13 of us that Wolf referred to in that note must stay under police protection. We can't lose anymore of this team."

"What about all those people we were going to visit?" Stanley questioned, sticking his hands in his pockets and raising his eyebrows.

"We get other officers to bring them in for questioning. Right now, it's too dangerous for any of us to be out of this building", they all nodded digruntledly. After the Callen case, they all reaslised how dangerous it would be to leave.

* * *

"What's the point?!" Blurted Conner, slamming his fist into his keyboard. The team looked over to the computer lab as Conner stormed out.

"We are getting nowhere," he grunted in exasperation. "Our friend is dead and we have nothing!"

"Jacobs calm down", Harper ordered, sending a glare to Conner.

"We've been working for hours and we still have nothing. I can't deal with this shit anymore. I'm leaving", Conner turned on his heal before anyone could object. Unfortunately he swiveled right into a passer by.

"Watch where you're going!" Snapped Conner, pulling himself off the floor. Spencer hurried over to help the young man up.

"Are you okay?" He asked, offering his hand out to the man.

"M'fine", he muttered, struggling up. Something fell from his waistband, clattering across the floor. Reid frowned and reached out, his eyes widening when he realised what it was; A gun.

The others saw it too, and suddenly chaos reigned. The young man made for the gun, but Reid's foot got there first, kicking the gun across the room. The man turned on him, enraged, landing his steel toe boots into Reid's kneecap. Spencer fumbled for his gun, but was knocked off balance by a fist across his nose; he'd heard and felt that sickening crunch before. Another punch was aimed for his face, but Spencer ducked, tackling the man, whilst he was preoccupied with failed punches. Reid held the man down after the tackle, which landed him a knee in the face. Morgan was on him in a second, wrenching the young man's hands behind his back, and forcing his face to kiss the cold laminated floor.

"Get off!" Shouted the man, squirming beneath both Morgan and Reid as the older agent cuffed him.

"You're under arrest for assaulting a federal agent", Morgan started, but the young man just smiled as if her knew this already. "And carrying a firearm with intent", again the man didn't argue.

"You alright kid?" Rossi asked as Reid got to his feet and gently touched his nose. Rossi offered him his hanky, which Reid gratefully accepted, wiping the blood from his nose and holding it there to stem the flow.

"Yea, I'm good. Who is that?" He asked frowning, he didn't frown long, because it sent ripples of pain through his nose. They glanced at the man as Morgan yanked him to his feet. He was wearing a devilish grin, licking his lips and watching them all.

"Oh God!" Cried Garcia, her hands flying to her mouth.

"What is it Baby Girl?"

"oh she's just realised who I am, Derek", the young man hummed, his voice sickeningly high.

"It's him!" Penelope yelled through her fingers.

Harper's brow furrowed, looking at the young man, "that's not Jason", he muttered.

"No! It's not! It's Lance!"

* * *

"What the hell's he doing here?" nagged Conner, watching Lance through the one way mirror.

"Spying on us most likely", Reid mumbled, finally managing the stop his nose bleed and talk normally without sounding nasal. "Hiding in plain sight".

"They're confident, I'll give 'em that", grumbled Stanley, narrowing his eyes at the young man on the other side of the glass. Rossi was pacing around Lance, allowing the silence to ensue.

"You gonna ask me somin'?" Smirked Lance, kissing his teeth slowly. Rossi didn't reply, and continued to pace.

"In't that how it works?" He goaded, beginning to get frustrated.

"You killed one of this teams detectives." Rossi deadpanned, keeping his tone even and calm.

"Don't know what you're talking 'bout", grinned Lance. The door flew open and a blonde haired young man burst in. Rossi turned suddenly, but before he could move further Ronnie's fist was pummelling Lance's face. The young Wolf screamed in shock and pain.

"Get...'em off!" Shrieked Lance, unable to shelter his face from the oncoming knuckles. Rossi allowed Ronnie one more punch before wrenching the young man away.

"Out!" Commanded Rossi just as Harper and Hotch bustled in.

"Tha...that was illegal!" Yelled Lance, glancing at the men as if seeking their support.

"I don't know, I'm pretty sure you gained those bruises from that altercation with out agent", Hotch muttered, his face lighting up.

"You saw that!" Snarled Lance at Micheal, Rossi almost laughed aloud, _wrong guy to ask help from._

"Nah, I didn't see anything. Did you Rossi?"

"Nope", Rossi winked, looking around, pretending to be oblivious to the situation.

Hotch and Harper led Ronnie out, when the door closed behind them the young man burst into sobs and slid to his knees out of Hotch's grasp.

"So, How's your dad?" Rossi challenged, taking a seat and eyeing Lance curiously as he dabbed the blood from his nose.

"Fuck off. He just broke my nose, man!" Lance retorted. Rossi looked thoughtfully at Lances beaten face and chortled.

"That's not broken. If you want to see broken, you take a look at the agent you attacked. But, if you want, I can get someone to finish the job", Rossi grinned at the uncomfortable shifting his words had caused. He reaslised he was bordering the line between professional and unprofessional, but he was enjoying it. "Now where's your dad?"

"I ain't telling you shit"

"Right, right. I forgot you're unwholesomely loyal to him. He's better than you isn't he? That's why he sent you in here, instead of himself. He's more important than you, I mean, we can all tell he dominates you. So tell me, what's it like to be someone's dog?"

"I'm not his dog! I could've pulled this whole thing off without him".

"But what reason do you have to pursue this vendetta?"

"Who says I gotta have a reason?"

"So what have you actually done? Because from where we're standing , it looks like your dad has orchestrated this all on his own." Lance's face contorted in rage.

"That ain't true! I helped!" Insisted Lance.

"What are you, 22? You couldn't have pulled any of this off".

"Wanna bet. That one bitch, I slit her throat, finished her off", he admitted proudly, Rossi didn't flinch.

"And your father let you?"

"Why would I need his permission?" glowered Lance indignantly.

"So he wasn't angry with you?"

"Well yea. He went on about how she was meant to die from the stab wounds. I didn't see how it mattered."

"He doesn't trust you", announced Rossi, throwing the young man off.

"Huh? Course he does, he..."

"Why do you think he sent you here?" Lance shrugged, dumbfounded. "What I think is that you were in his way. You almost screwed up his plan by finishing off his victim, and so he needed to get you out of his way." Rossi said calmly. He watched as Lance shook his head and put his hands over his ears.

"No! He needs me!"

"What for, Lance? I think he sold you off to us. You wouldn't of lasted much longer 'spying' on us, and your father knew you would be caught", Rossi continued, despite Lance's protests. "But you're his loyal pet, so you would never rat him out to us. It's the perfect plan. You're his distraction, that's all you are to him."

"Stop! STOP!" Shouted Lance, spit flying off his bared teeth.

"Lance, you don't have to do what he says anymore."

"I'm not his damn dog!" Lance hissed with disgust.

"You are, but you don't have to be. Tell us where Jason is." Lance panted with anger, yet he managed to look at Rossi with confusion.

"Jason? He ain't called Jason no more", he growled angrily. "He's Layton now."

"Layton what?" Implored Rossi.

"Club. He made me change mine too, but I don't refer to myself as Justin, I never liked the whole new identity thing, but he did", Lance shook his head, sharing his disdain for his father.

"Where is he Lance?" Rossi repeated. Lance finally looked up at him.

"He don't tell me nothin'" he shrugged.

"That's too bad. I guess we don't really need you anymore. You've already admitted to one murder, so that should put you in prison for the rest of your pitiful life", Rossi got up to go. Lance rattled his handcuffs, trying to get to his feet.

"Shit, no! Please! I don't wanna go to prison!" Rossi carried on making his way out, ignoring Lance's pleas.

"I'll tell ya! I'll tell ya anything, _anything,_ you wanna know! We can make a deal". Rossi paused with his hand on the door handle, smiling to himself. He pushed on the handle openeing the door.

"HE'S AT OUR GARAGE!" Rossi turned, his eyebrows raised, he peered at his team through the door and watched as Garcia typed over the keys.

"I have an address linked to a Layton Club, it's a garage he works at, it's about 30 minutes away", Garcia whispered triumphantly. Rossi nodded and turned back to Lance.

"Looks like you were right."

"You'll cut me a deal now, right? That's what they do. If someone helps they give them a deal, get time off their sentence", Lance ranted, his head bobbing excitedly.

"I am quite aware of how that system works Mr Wolf, and you are correct. But I didn't make a deal with you." Rossi grinned at the flabbergasted look on Lances narrow face.

"Nah, I ain't going to prison, I ratted my dad out to you. Give me a deal!" He argued as Rossi backed out of the room further.

"You helped to kill our friend", Rossi barked. "I hope you rot behind bars!" He slammed the door and Lance began to sob hopelessly

* * *

 **This was supposed to be uploaded yesterday, but I was dying from a migraine (yes, I can be overly dramatic), and I really couldn't deal with finishing it at midnight. I'm so sorry! I am trying to update regularly, but it's getting super difficult, I haven't finished my college work yet and I'm going to America for 2 weeks in 1 week.**

 **Don't worry, I'll figure it out. Please leave a review, I'll see ya soon!**

 **And** **also, anyone reading my other story, I should have a new chapter for that tonight, but I haven't started it yet so don't expect it anytime soon.**

 **Adios!**


	7. Location

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **So I have a double bill chapter for you guys today. This is the first and as you can tell it's a little short. I wrote the next chapter a week or two ago, and I needed to have a little sub chapter to lead to the next one, which is going to be HUGE!**

 **Okay so here's the short but necessary chapter, the next one will be uploaded in a few hours, so hang tight.**

* * *

Amelia hadn't moved from the swivel chair. She could see and hear everything going on around her, but her mind refesused to acknowledge it. It remained detached from reality. Matthew stayed with her. He too was sullen and quiet, but not in the same catatonic state as Amelia was.

"They have a suspect", he whispered, not looking at her, but instead at the carpet, which had also stolen Amelia's captivation.

"He's Jason's son". Amelia didn't respond. Matthew snorted and it almost, _almost,_ startled Amelia out of her stupor. "I never thought of myself as a violent guy, ya know? But..." he exhaled deeply, "when I saw that guy, _the way he smiled_ , I could've killed him", Matthews voice began to shake as he laughed again. "Me, kill a man? I know what you're thinking... but I had the opportunity, I saw Spencer's gun sticking out and I wanted so badly to take it, and...and..."

"That's too easy.." muttered Amelia. She didn't look up, but talking was a big step. "Death is too good for them". They remained silent after that, mulling over each other's words.

"You know that's her biggest fear." Stammered Amelia, finally looking at Matthew, revealing her red, watery green eyes. "Drowning." Matthew nodded, unable to form words on his sluggish tongue. "She used to be scared of water too. But I promised her...I promised I'd always save her and that she'd never drown. I b..broke my..." she was wrenched from speech by gut twisting sobs as reality finally set in.

Matthew moved close and put his arms around her. "She knew that. It wasn't your fault", he soothed, stroking her shoulder.

"She must've been so scared, Matthew." Amelia whimpered. "She died scared and alone."

* * *

Lance nervously paced his cell. _What have you done! He's going to kill you when he finds out,_ he thought to himself. He began munching on his nails, taking a seat then getting up again and taking nervous steps.

"Shit", he muttered, taking a seat and bouncing his legs up and down. "Shit, shit, shit", he smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand, a frustrated growl escaping his lips. "I can change this", he whispered to himself, stilling when a thought crossed his minds. _I can lead them right to him._ He laughed nervously to himself, a small grin.

An officer walked by and Lance rushed to the bars, slamming his hands against them.

"Hey! Hey. I get a phone call", he yelled. The officer looked him up and down and snorted. He began walking away.

"I need to make a phone call! I know my rights, and I have the right to one phone call", the officer considered him this time.

"And what would you know about the law?" Taunted the officer, narrowing his eyes and marching up to the bars.

"My father was a detective, so I have a pretty decent understanding". The officer sighed, pulling the key from his pocket.

"Put your hands on the wall. You have two minutes on the phone and that's it".

* * *

"We need to get to that location", insisted Hotch, already preparing himself.

"What? We can't go yet", argued Harper.

"And what if he has another victim? I'm not taking that chance Micheal", Hotch pulled on a vest. "Morgan, Alex Reid with me. Rossi you take JJ and Emily, and Harper, you best decide whether you're coming or not", Hotch turned his back and made his way to the door, with Reid scurrying close behind and Alex and Morgan trudging after them.

* * *

Lance's fingers shook as he dialled the familiar number. It rung twice before a gruff voice answered.

"Yea, who is it?" It grunted angrily. Lance was lost for words, he had to be careful, the officer was right behind him, listening to his end of the call. "Answer the damn phone!" Snapped his father, making him flinch.

"Uh, it's me, Justin", Lance never referred to himself by his fake identity when he spoke with his father, he prayed his dad would understand.

"Lance? what do you want? Did you find anything?" Questioned Jason, his tone still gravelly.

"I..I'm in jail..." stuttered Lance, his cheeks reddening with shame. The officer behind him shifted and Lance swallowed thickly, "I...uh...only have two minutes". The other end was silent.

"I knew you couldn't do the damn job", hissed Wolf, Lance fumbled with his words, but his father beat him to it. "Why the hell are you calling me! You could implement me...is there someone there now?" He snapped.

"Yes", Lance said clearly as not to arouse suspicion.

"Can they hear me?"

"No...I..I don't think so."

"You've done something haven't you?" Snarled Jason.

"The garage", was all Lance could reply.

"You FUCKING TOLD THEM!" Lance had to hold the receiver a little from his ear. "You ungrateful shit! I have given you everything and this is how you repay me! SNITCHING ON YOUR OWN FATHER!"

"But...I...I...thought..."

"You thought what!? That they'd let you go? Doesn't work like that, I could've told you that, you dumb fuck!" Jason's voice tore into Lance's eardrum and he winced.

"You have a chance..." he muttered pathetically.

"I can't take them all, you idiot! And you led them right to our safe spot. Where the hell am I gonna go now! You fucked up big time. When this is over I'm going to show you exactly what happens to snitchs! You're gonna..." the phone cut off at Lance stared at it with his mouth agape.

"That's your two minutes. Back to your cell".

* * *

"How far are we Reid?" Hotch asked, turning to the passenger seat where Reid was studying a map. His nose had stopped bleeding, but the bridge was turning a brilliant purple, with red blotches surrounding it.

"Take two more lefts then continue for 4 miles and we should be there." A cellphone rang and Morgan answered it, putting it on speaker.

"Are you behind us Rossi?" Hotch called.

"We just left, I've got Emily and JJ and Micheal took another car with Stanley. It took a while to convince them to come", sighed the Italian.

"We're almost there", Alex replied, loading her gun.

"If you go in before we get there, good luck", Rossi added.

"Don't worry, we'll see your Italian ass there", laughed Morgan.

"See you on the other side old timer", smirked Alex.

Rossi chuckled "Hey, lay off will ya", they all grinned, ending the call.

* * *

 **Like I said, it's not much because the next chapter is where the real action is. I won't leave you waiting too long.**

 **Be back soon!**


	8. Light and Dark

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 **So I wrote this chapter before I even wrote the first chapter, so this story has actually been planned, unlike my others where I'd write a chapter a day and nothing was finalised. So I'd just like to prepare you all for this chapter, because lots of things are going to happen. I don't think it's too hectic, but...well you'll find out.**

 **Woah, so I wrote that 2 weeks ago! I'm so glad I can finally post it.**

 **Please review, and enjoy, I spent a long time on this chapter...it uh...it's not an easy one...**

 **Good luck, happy reading!**

* * *

"Reid, you check the back room with Morgan, Alex and I will take the workshop." They all nodded at Hotch and raised their guns.

Morgan led Reid into the back room; it was clear. Reid gazed around from the doorway.

"He's organised", Reid said, taking in the neat office space. Morgan walked slowly over to the desk to find more photos, like the ones the CSI team had found at Wolf's home. Except there was a new addition to this set.

"Reid, we're in these", Morgan mumbled, glancing down at the photos of the two teams. Reid was still by the doorway, glancing nervously out of the door, he turned his head, his face contorted in confusion.

"He's targeting us too" Reid mused, Morgan felt a deep panic take hold at the realisation. He was about to reply when gunshots echoed through the garage. Morgan grabbed his gun and noticed Reid had already dashed from the room.

* * *

Hotch and Alex entered the workshop of the garage. A single car was parked in the centre, up on the ramp, with the bonnet and 3 of the 4 wheels missing. Hotch stepped gingerly around the car. He caught movement near a tool bench.

"FBI!" He yelled, steadying his gun. "Come out with your hands up." There was no more movement from the tool bench. Hotch took a tantalising step closer, that was until he saw the slim barrel of a gun peek from around the bench. He pulled his trigger at the bench just as the barrel fired off its own shot. Hotch slipped involuntarily to the floor, a sharp agony taking hold of his right thigh. He managed to sit himself up on his elbows and shoot again. Alex was hiding behind the car, but when another shot bounced off the wall extremely close to Hotch's bleeding form, she hopped out from her hiding place, emptying her magazine at the tool bench. Hotch also shot, even though he was staggering about on the floor. Alex caught a glimpse of the hand holding the gun.

All three guns went off at once; followed by 2 grunts.

Hotch's bullet had missed, due to his trembling fingers, but Alex's had found its mark, blowing off the gunmans ring finger and blowing a chunk from his pinky (Hotch swore he saw the ruminants of a fingernail-with flesh attached-soar past him.) The third bullet also found its mark, the hand which had so recently mourned the loss of a finger and a half, was experienced, after all he'd been in CSI for most of his life. The shot had found a soft spot just above Alex's collarbone. It had sunk deep into her skin, but decided to keep residence within her body, rather than exit the other side.

Spencer burst into the room to see Wolf darting through the door, and two agents sitting in pools of their own blood. Hotch was dragging himself to Alex, who was struggling to breath.

"Alex! ALEX!" Cried Spencer, his hand pressed over the wound. Hotch was on them in a second. He took over pressing her wound, his hand also on his own. His and Reid's eyes locked for a moment before both turning to the door.

"I don't usually do this but, go Reid, you have to get him." Hotch whispered, knowing if _he_ could he would already be chasing the bastard.

"B..but..." Reid's eyes looked down at Alex who smiled.

"Go..." she muttered, blood bubbling in her throat. _Not a good sign,_ she thought. By that time Morgan was stumbling over. Reid knew he had to do this. He got off his knees, raised his gun and made a run for the same door Wolf had just used.

Morgan skidded to a halt beside his friends. Hotch's one hand was pressed firmly to Alex's wound, crimson seeping through his fingers, his other hand was latched onto his thigh, blood beginning to pool around them, at first in small drips which evolved into puddles.

"REID!" Morgan shouted as the door slammed behind a pair of retreating converse. Hotch took his hand from his bleeding leg and touched Morgan's shoulder.

"Morgan, go with him, he needs backup...he...I shouldn't of let him go alone...Morgan you have to...go...please." Hotch felt a sinking feeling at the realisation of what he'd just done. Had he sent Reid on a suicide mission? _No, no, no, what have I done, how could you let him go alone, Wolf will..._ he lowered his head, his breathing shallowing.

"Hotch, I can't leave you like this", the wailing of sirens could be heard in the background. "Hear that? Ambulance will be here soon. You hear that Alex? hold on." Morgan tore the sleeve off of Alex's blouse, she whimpered when it sent a jarring movement through her. "Sorry", Morgan muttered. He moved Hotch's trembling hand off Alex's wound, placing the blouse over it tightly, the white blouse quickly darkened with blood.

"Hotch keep pressure on that wound", Morgan barked, motioning to the oozing blood coming from the hole in Hotch's thigh.

"M'gan", hissed Alex, her fearful eyes latching onto Morgan's dark ones.

"Alex don't talk, okay", Hotch fretted, taking Alex's pale hand in his red and sticky palm. Alex's eyes shifted to him and she smiled.

"That's it, just hold on a little longer." Hotch now heard what Morgan was talking about, sirens blared all around. "Just a little longer", he mumbled. His own pain was becoming unbearable. It had started off as a sharp sting that sliced through him and left him in shock. Now the pain became an overwhelming throb, thumping through his entire leg, sending bolts of pain down to his heal and up past his groin and into his lower abdomen. He gritted his teeth against the agony, knowing Alex couldn't be feeling much better.

Alex felt a wet hand grasp hers and she squeezed it back, looking over at Hotch and seeing the pain hidden behind his eyes. She knew something bad had happened; there was something wrong, she could feel it, a coldness in her body; starting at her fingertips. She could feel it inch up through her, the cold was like a hand, grasping around her throat. A dull ache reverberated around that area, she could feel it pulsate, combined with the growing cold, it felt as if she were drowning. A metallic taste filled her mouth. Her body began to numb, like she was floating, which would've been calming had it not been for the unpleasant pain that breathing had begun to cause her, it felt better not to breath, if she didn't she could continue floating peacefully, breathing just brought reality crashing back down on her.

"Reid..." she gurgled, blood filling her thoat, making the feeling of drowning all the more real.

"Shhh, EMTs will be here soon", Morgan said, putting more pressure over her neck, causing her to choke on her own blood. It was everywhere, she could see it swimming around her, there was more outside of her body than there was in. Alex didn't know one could bleed so much.

"H..he w..will find..." she coughed, Morgan saw the crimson blood that painted her pale pink lips.

"Blake, Blake just focus on yourself", Morgan felt his knees dampen, it wasn't uncomfortable, but he felt sick knowing that the sticky warmth seeping into his pant legs was Blake's blood.

* * *

Reid sprinted from the door just as a silver van pulled away from the scene. Reid cursed and sprinted for the SUV. He climbed in, fumbling with the keys, which Hotch had left in the ignition. He barely noticed the sound of sirens surrounding him, or his team exiting their vehicles and calling his name.

"What the hell's he doing?" Hissed JJ, watching Reid pull the car into reverse and swerve back onto the road.

Reid slammed his foot on the acceleration, chasing the silver van, which was only just in his line of sight. He knew he was going past the speed limit, but still he kept his foot on the gas pedal.

The silver van made a sharp left turn, and Reid's skinny fingers grasped the wheel, yanking it violently to follow the van. The SUV complied to Reid's demands, swerving and dodging past other cars.

Reid could've laughed if he wasn't so determined. What would his mother think, her Spencer, in a high speed chase!

Reid turned on his sirens and the cars around him stopped smashing their horns at him and instead pulled out of his way.

It was pretty dark, but the lights of the streets allowed Reid to keep his eyes on his target. However, Jason took a right turn that led across a dimly lit bridge. Spencer had to rely on his headlights as he high tailed it onto the bridge.

* * *

"Sound off!" Called a voice that the agents recognised as Micheal Harper.

"In here! Quick, Agent down!" Bellowed Morgan, absently pushing harder on Alex's wound, eliciting a soft whimper.

Harper burst into the workshop, gun raised, followed by Rossi, JJ, Emily and Stanley. They all dropped their guns instantly seeing the agents in such poor conditions.

"Where are the medics!?" Cried Morgan over his shoulder, his hands were beginning to tremble as Blake's breaths drew shallower. Rossi ran from the room shouting for help.

"Alex..." whispered Emily, kneeling gently beside Blake's head and stroking her hair. Alex looked up lazily and smiled. They all looked so worried, _why?_ She thought, _we're all here, together, safe..._ she continued to smile. She was with her family. She was happy, even as the cold snuck nearer, closing in on her heart. She heard a child's giggle behind her. She wrenched her head over, sending jolts of pure agony over her body and allowing more blood to seep from the gunshot wound. _Ethan?_

"Alex, stay still", Hotch ordered, tightening his grip on her hand, which was becoming more and more limp. She looked over to where she'd heard the laughter.

"E..Ethan...?" She whispered. Her boy, her Baby was stood next to the broken car. He was smiling down at her. The coldness took complete hold.

"This way, please hurry", Rossi's voice broke into the silent room. The medics rushed to the agent's side. Rossi's team remained silent. The EMTs were silent. There was little movement.

"What're...what..." Rossi yelled.

"Rossi..", Morgan's voice cracked.

Rossi pulled Morgan violently out of the way and the agent didn't object, he seemed almost weightless as he was thrown backwards. The EMTs weren't focused on Alex.

"You've gotta try! You've.. got to..." Rossi sent pleading looks at the medics who simply shook their heads and began to help Hotch, who was staring at the blood. _Too much blood_ , Rossi thought, he had to wade through it to get to his fallen agent.

"Help...HELP HER! You son of a bitch, DO SOMETHING!" He screamed at the male medic, who scooted away from the Italian.

"Sir..." he started, but Rossi wasn't listening. He started pumping on Alex's chest. Her eyes were half open, staring off at something that wasn't there, the usual deep brown of her eyes were now dead and cold, no longer holding her enthusiastic personality. Rossi felt strong hands hold him. _Get off Morgan,_ he shouted in his head. He tried to keep his position.

"Stop...MORGAN, GET OFF ME! NOBODY IS HELPING HER...GET O..." he stuggled against the arms that tried to pry him away from Blake.

"Agent Rossi! DAVE! You're just pushing more blood from her body...it's..it's too late", it wasn't Morgan's voice but Michaels.

"No...NO!" Rossi made one last attempt to get to Alex, he had to save her, he _had_ to.

"Rossi", Morgan's voice sounded deflated and stonic. His voice muted all hope that Rossi had been so desperatly clinging onto. Rossi fell back into the arms that had been pulling him away. He lost control of his emotions and tears washed his face. Derek wrapped his arms around the Italian, dragging him out of the blood and holding him back. Rossi lay in his gentle arms, utterly defeated.

Hotch couldn't hear the medics talking to him quietly, he wanted desperatly to shake Alex awake, to show that she was alive. He wanted to embrace Dave, wanted to tell him it would be alright. Instead they lay, sat and stood, the only sound filling the room were Rossi's wretched sobs and the quiet crying from the rest of the team. Micheal stood up and closed Alex's eyes, none of the team had the strength to do it, it was the last time they saw her brown eyes.

* * *

Jason swerved around the slow travelling car beside him, Reid right on his tail. Wolf knew he had to get the kid off his back. He glanced into the window of the car beside him, spotting an elderly couple, who hadn't noticed his presence.

He overtook them with ease and then slammed his foot on the breaks. He heard their car skidding to a stop, smiling and speeding back off. He peered into his rearview mirror and grinned at the carnage that devolved.

* * *

The car in front halted sending Reid's brain into a flurry of panic. Out of instinct his hands turned the wheel suddenly, sending the car skidding to the left, his brain tried to fight the action causing his feet to slam on the breaks sending the car out of control. Reid's fingers gripped the wheel, he heard the squeal of metal against metal as the SUV kissed the car in front. He pummled the breaks in terror, but the car had a mind of its own. The bonnet of the car sunk its teeth into the barrier separating passing cars from the 20 foot plummet into icy waves below. The barrier gave way easily as the front of the SUV chewed into it. It was a strange weightlessness that followed, Spencer had been aware what the feeling of falling was like, but this was different. Realising control of the vehicle was a lost cause he released the steering wheel and covered his face with his arms, preparing for impact as the SUV nosedived over the bridge.

Reid could only watch; his breath drawn out by the feeling of weightlessness, as the water approached the steaming and broken bonet. He remembered watching a film that looked like this, Morgan, Rossi and Emily had dragged him to the cinema, conning him into believing they were going to watch a 2 hour historical documentary on the battle of Mazikert during 1075 AC. When they'd told him they were actually watching an action movie he hadn't had much choice, they'd also laughed at him for believing their lie.

 _"When have you ever heard of a cinema showing a documentary!?" Emily laughed, holding her sides._

 _"I uh don't come out to the movies that much", Reid admitted, rubbing his neck and blushing deeply. "Anyway, you tricked me!" He glared, pointing an accusing finger at the three of them._

 _"We had to!" Defended Rossi, his hands up in surrender. "My life goal is for you to watch an action film that's actually in English and under 3 hours long. I will rest happy when I've achieved that." Emily laughed, remembering the Russian movie Reid had invited her to a while ago, which had been 5 hours long._

 _"Hey pretty boy, I'll get you some popcorn to say sorry", Morgan offered with a smirk. Reid considered for a moment then smirked himself._

 _"Nachos and coffee", he ordered as if Morgan was his waiter and then he waltzed into the screen room with a beaming Emily at his heels._

 _Rossi and Morgan shared a glance and chuckled._

Reid was knocked from the flashback when the windscreen collided with the water, smashing the glass and causing Reid to collide violently with the steering wheel, knocking him unconscious. After the initial impact the SUV caressed the rippling waves as it slowly sank into the depths. Spencer's head rested on the wheel as blood trickled down his face. Water began to fill the car, it wasn't long before it was completely swallowed beneath the tide. The water had begun to lick at Spencer's knees.

The sound of sirens could be heard above, muffled by the surrounding water. The officers above watched as the roof of the SUV disappeared.

* * *

 **Uh oh...that's not good.**

 **Before anyone berates me for my decisions in this chapter, just remember it's my story, and this was planned to happen before I even wrote the first chapter.**

 **With that said, in the first chapter I warned that there would be _at least one_ character death, and I think it really spoils the story saying that anyway.**

 **Please review and I shall see you in the next chapter!**


	9. Drowning

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters.)**

 **Well, I have returned after leaving you with a wonderful cliffhanger. All shall be revealed.**

 **So this story will shortly be coming to a close and that will be the end of the 'Caged' series, which is actually super sad, because that was my first fanfiction ever!**

 **Thank you _Tannerrose5_ for your continued support. You're the only person reviewing and your loyalty is wonderful, so thank you so much!**

 **But never fear, I already have a new story brewing and I'm so excited to start writing it. I hope it goes down well. Check it out when I finish this story. First chapter should be up in a week.**

 **Okay, I will stop promoting a non-relating story of my own and actually let you read what you can here for.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"I need to get out of here". JJ turned on her heel and slunk from the room, closing her eyes against the permanent images of Alex's dead body.

"JJ wait", Emily called, putting a gentle hand on her shoulder. She tried to turn JJ around as slowly as she could, but JJ jerked around, her eyes ablaze.

"Get off me, Prentiss." She hissed, in a cold and deadly manner, that made Emily gulp nervously. She let the blonde leave, feeling sure she heard retching before the door slammed.

Micheal turned away from the body and focused on Hotch.

"Is he gonna be okay?" He asked a passing EMT. Hotch answered before the EMT could.

"I'm fine. You all need to find Reid. I sent him after Jason", the others all glanced around worriedly, but nodded all the same.

"We saw him get into an SUV. He was going pretty fast", JJ frowned.

"I'll call Garcia, she can track his phone", Morgan pulled out his phone and hit speed dial.

"Babygirl, can you give me Reid's location... I don't know, just track his cell. Yea, he went after Wolf... I doubt he's even caught up yet, you know how that kid is in the car...You found it?...Cool, send it to me mama", Morgan hung up and exhaled deeply. He had tried to act normal so as not to upset Garcia, he would tell her about Alex in person, no one should have to find out over the phone that their friend is dead.

"I have a location".

"I'll head to the hospital with Hotch", Rossi announced. Hotch began to argue, but Rossi sent him a glower which shut him up.

* * *

Morgan high tailed it out, Micheal held onto the safety handles as he directed the agent. They got to the bridge to find police cars littering the area. Morgan caught sight of the broken barrier and broke hard. He slid from the car and rushed over to the scene.

"Agent Morgan, FBI", he said, revealing his badge and gaining access beyond the yellow tape. He checked the location Garcia had sent him and glanced around for Reid.

Emily slammed her boot on the breaks before she collided with Morgan's SUV, which he'd parked in the middle of the road. She followed his example and left her car behind his. The bridge ahead of them was chaotic. Micheal was stood a little away from the scene waiting for them.

She saw Morgan talking to an officer when suddenly he shouted and sunk to his knees.

* * *

"No. No, no, no, no, NO! REID!" Morgan almost found himself climbing over the barrier to get to his friend.

"Sir, you need to stay back. We're sending divers in to retrieve the body", Derek's heart froze in his chest, and he felt his blood run cold. _Body, no. Oh god no._ He could feel himself fall to his knees. A slow collapse, as his legs could no longer carry his grief.

"No!" He sobbed, lowering his face into his hands. The strong, tough and funny Derek Morgan was replaced by a crying wreck. _I_ _couldn't of been that long. He, no, he can't be. "_ He could still be...he...he's not..." stuttered Derek, his eyes pleading with the officer, who looked down sympathetically, licking his lips nervously.

"It's been long enough, sir. I'm sorry", Derek's mind took pity on his body and allowed himself to sink further into the ground, dissolving into himself as the insurmountable grief crushed him.

"Morgan? Derek, are you alright?" Emily's voice.

"What's happened?" JJ. Morgan closed his eyes, becoming blind to the equally dark world.

"You're agent went over. There...uh really was nothing we could do. I'm sorry", it all proved too much for JJ, who fell into Stanley's arms, unable to even cry due to the gut wrenching pain squirming inside her. Stanley tried to lift her up onto her feet, but they had become completely immobile. Emily was having a silent word with the sheriff; her mask was up, but she was struggling, tears were threatening to spill over and her chest was extremely tight. She nodded and turned to her friends. Morgan was on his knees, panting breathlessly, his eyes watching the ripples, trying to find life beneath them.

"We should head back to the station", she suggested to the incapacitated agents. Neither of them replied. Emily sighed; they had lost more than 2 agents.

* * *

"Oh thank god you're back! You guys are always worrying me. Where's everyone else?" Garcia gazed at Morgan, Emily and JJ. "Where are my other babies!?" Her voice caught slightly and she rasped in fear.

"Baby girl, calm down. You need to take a seat." Morgan whispered, his voice sounded dead and emotionless. Conner stood up, his eyes wide and anxious.

"What..." he started, but Emily shook her head suddenly and he retook his seat. Garcia fell back into a seat, her eyes full of fear.

"D..Derek?" Penelope glanced at the 3 agents and 2 detectives who just walked in.

"Please, Pen. Let m...me explain", Morgan stammered. Amelia and Matthew shuffled out of the conference room to see what the commotion was about. Amelia gazed around. _Where's Spencer?_ Her mind questioned. She could feel herself begin to panic. Garcia bit her lip and the tears fell thick and fast.

"Oh not all of them, please no", she sobbed.

"We...we got there and R...Reid...Reid and I took the back room, Hotch and A...Alex (he almost couldn't say their names, a wave of pain washing over him each time) took the workshop. We heard shots and Reid was there before me and Hotch told him to go after Jason. Hotch and Alex both got shot", he was cut off by and loud whimper. He looked up to see Garcia covering her face.

"W..what about Rossi?"

"Penelope, Rossi's fine, okay. He accompanied Hotch to the hospital", Garcia let out a sigh of relief. "He got shot in the leg, but he should be alright. B..Blake, she...she was shot...I..in the neck. Pen, I'm sorry, she didn't make it...there was...so...so much blood...too much. I tried", Morgan paused and took a deep shuddering breath. Garcia was trembling badly, a waterfall of tears leaking from her eyes. "I tried...I..I really did." Morgan couldn't hold back, and a throaty sob escaped his throat. He glanced at Penelope, who was silent and stoic, the news clearly devastating her; he knew what he was about to say would destroy her.

Morgan tried to take a breath but felt himself unable to, instead he choked on sob after sob. Emily put a kind hand on his shoulder and guided him into a chair. She would do this.

"Garcia, look at me", Garcia remained staring bleary eyed at her knees. "Please", Penelope reluctantly gave in and looked up at Prentiss. She took Garcia's hand in hers and stroked her finger over it. "Reid's gone too."

Garcia yanked her hand away from Emily and stood up. "No!" She growled, backing away.

"Baby girl, please", Morgan sobbed.

"No! I don't...no! You're lying! They can't both be gone", she shrieked, retreating further. She thought that maybe she could retreat back in time, to when her babies were alive and everything way alright. In reality she was just backing into her mind, to a place that was safe and warm and full of memories of her dead friends.

JJ jumped forward to stop Garcia, wrapping her arms forcefully around the tech queen before she fell into oblivion. To Garcia this was a confirmation.

"JJ, He's too young!" Howled Garcia, she sounded much like an injured animal seeking help.

"Shhh...I..I..know Pen. I know", JJ whimpered, holding onto Garcia tightly as her tears dampened the polka dot carry Garcia wore, likewise to JJ's jacket, which Garcia snuggled her face into.

Amelia shook her head vigorously. _No._ She told herself. _No, not him too, I can't lose him too_. She wanted to break something, throw something, hit someone, _kill_ someone. Her mind floated to Lance; the Wolf that killed her sister. She marched down the stairs, holding back her tears bravely. Micheal caught her trying to leave and grabbed hold of her waist.

"Get off!" She snapped, kicking her legs out.

"No, I know what you're planning", Amelia screamed in his arms, flailing about. The commotion was barely noticed by the others, JJ and Garcia still bound in an embrace. Amelia went still in his arms and she began to cry. She didn't sob loudly, instead pitiful mews escaped her shivering body and out of sympathy, Harper released her.

"I blamed him", she yelped. "That was the last thing I said to him. That it was his fault," she slapped her cheek in disgust. The room fell silent, except for the quiet communal crying that almost everyone was participating in.

* * *

"We need to make sure Hotch is alright", with trembling fingers she found Rossi's number.

"Prentiss, what took so long?" A lump formed in Emily's throats and she swallowed it down in order to answer.

"Uh...we were just calling to check on Hotch. How is he?"she stammered, praying Rossi wouldn't notice.

"He's alright. The bullet went straight through, so he doesn't need surgery, just some physical therapy and crutches. Now can we address why you answered a question with a question?" _So the Italian had noticed, nothing slips past him._ The lump found its way back into Emily's throat.

"I...uh can we talk about this when we see you?" She asked, the mask she'd been holding up so well began to slip and she could feel the tears welling.

"Emily. If something's happened I want to know now", he demanded. Gone was the calm and fun Rossi, his tone suggested anything but this. Emily could feel her mask crumble away. She couldn't do it again.

Morgan could see Emily's face contorted in emotional pain, and so taking a deep breath, he started talking.

* * *

Rossi hung up the phone and pressed his lips to the back of it as he struggled against the grief. First Alex, now Spencer. He took a sharp intake of breath, his eyes burning, but he refused to blink and release the building water.

It felt as if he was losing a second son, because that was what Spencer had become to him; a son.

Alex was a good friend, no, she was family. Rossi related to her over any other member of the team. But Alex was dead. Spencer was dead. And Rossi could feel his world falling apart.

"Are you here for Agent Hocthner?" A gentle voice knocked him from his thoughts.

"U..uh..yes. How is he?" Rossi struggled to his feet, thankful for the distraction.

"He's doing really well. We want to keep him for overnight observation, but he can be discharged in the morning. You can see him now", Rossi nodded, heading to the room the nurse had motioned to. In the seconds of silence grief berated him again, making his knees tremble. Aaron was sat up in bed, serious as normal, but his fingers were embracing each other nervously.

"Dave, have you had an update?" Rossi looked the man over. He seemed pale and tired, but other than that (and the bullet hole) he seemed okay. Dave avoided his eyes for fear of falling apart.

"I do", he said simply, taking a seat before his legs buckled.

Hotch bit down on his gum. "What's happened?"

* * *

"What do we do now?" Matthew whimpered, looking up sadly.

"We work the case", Harper deadpanned. Conner snorted, shaking his head and grabbing everyone's attention.

"One of our team and two of theirs is dead. Y..you actually expect us all to keep working", he laughed.

"Conner..."

"No! I'm fed up of this! Hand the case to someone else. This has gone too far. We should be in witness protection, not fucking working!" He spat. Emily closed her eyes, hoping to block out the arguing.

"This gives us more reason to catch this bastard. If we stop now, we may never be safe", Morgan intervened, Conner glared at the agent.

"Fine, you all fulfill your suicide pact. I won't be a part of it", for the second time in 48 hours Conner got up to leave. Matthew stood up and weakly attempted to stop him.

"Don't..." he muttered, but Conner was already packing his stuff away.

"Where you gonna go!" Yelled Micheal. "It's not safe out there on your own." Conner scowled at him, and shook his phone.

"I can get protection."

Morgan felt he phone buzz and he answered it quickly to avoid the situation in the bullpen.

"Agent Morgan."

"Agent, you gave us your number to call and update you on the body. Your agent that went over the bridge", Morgan swallowed thickly before answering.

"Yes. Did you...uh...", he paused, his voice shuddering, not knowing what to say. He had a rough idea of what they were about to say; they found the body, pulled it out, zipped it into a cold body bag and it was waiting in the morgue for him.

"That's the thing agent. The divers have been under several times now and they say there's no sign of a body", Morgan frowned at the phone.

"What?"

"I know, we're just as confused as you sir. We are checking the area now to see if he was flung from the car. The only other explanation is that the rapids took him down river." Morgan clamped his eyes shut, images of Dr Spencer Reid's dead body being carried away or impaled by a tree arose in his head.

"I..if you find anything, please call me", he hung up the phone and looked up to see most of the team watching him.

"Who was...?" JJ started, but Morgan stopped her.

"The body. They can't find his body". Everyone's faces changed in a instant. JJ's crumpled when she finally realised Spencer wasn't coming back. Emily's mask was in repair, so her emotions were on full display. Garcia burst into a fresh wave of sobs.

"What body?" Everyone's heads whipped to the door.

Dr Spencer Reid stood in the doorway, damp through to his toes. A trail of wet footprints followed him. A dark trickle of crimson dripped from the side of his head, and he shivered visibly.

Dr Spencer Reid was alive.

* * *

 **Was that misleading? I'd never kill Reid, I love him too much. Sorry that was a little emotional. Next chapter will be another action packed one, I promise.**

 **Only a few to go. I'm going to go ahead and guess 3 to go, but don't hold be to that.**

 **Please review. Tell me what you thought of this chapter, or any other chapter.**

 **See ya later alligator!**


	10. Spencer

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal minds or it's characters**

 **So you may be wondering what happens to poor old Spencer Reid in the last chapter. Well I'm here to explain. This chapter is dedicated entirely to the doctors escape.**

 **Enjoy and if you want you can leave me a fabulous review, just a thought.**

* * *

Spencer lifted his head groggily off the steering wheel. He squinted around, confused. He was in the SUV, but out of the windows the road had disappeared. He narrowed his eyes out of the glass; was that water?

It was only then that he noticed how cold he was. His legs were painfully cold, and he couldn't move his left one. The chill licked his from his toes to his abdomen. He glanced down and realised why. Water was gently tickling at his lower torso and filling the car with its icy sharpness.

Spencer's breath caught in his throat as the memories flooded back. He whipped his head around. The windscreen was cracked innumerably, water spraying through the lines of impact. Behind the windows was a deep blue. Spencer, pushed his face against the window, his breath quickening when his eyes caught the riverbed and the moonlight hitting the waves above him.

He snapped his seat belt off and tried to get up. He used the door to steady himself and pulled up, but a sharp agony twisted through his lower body and he collapsed back down with a splash.

"Oh god, no..." he rasped, trying to move from his seat. His leg was trapped. He grabbed his thigh and yanked hard and gasped in pain. He looked down, watching the water fill with crimson.

"HELP!" He screeched, his voice breaking. Terror grasped him and it permitted him to cry weakly. _I'm going to die_. He said to himself. _I'm going to drown just like Mara did,_ the thought of her made him sob harder. He saw her face flash before him.

"I'm sorry," he cried. She smiled at him in his mind. She was replaced by images of his team. Morgan was shaking his head. They looked disappointed in him. _Don't give up_ , Rossi ordered, scowling at him.

"I..I can't..." he mumbled. The images disappeared leaving him alone. _Leaving me to die,_ he though bitterly. He looked down at his leg, which had stopped causing agony, and was pulsating regularly. The water was to his biceps now and steadily rising.

He looked back at his leg and closed his eyes. He fumbled with his thigh, keeping his eyes closed and pulled again, this time a bit more gentle and conscious of the agony it would cause. Again the pain coursed through him and he fell back weeping. The water was a darker red now, and it was lapping at Spencer's underarms. _I can't die like this_ , he prayed.

 _You're weak_ , the voice came from inside his head, but he still searched the SUV to see if Tobias Hankel had been there. Spencer wiped his face of tears and gritted his teeth.

"I'm not weak", he growled and he pulled his free foot from under him, using it to push away the dash board. His teeth were locked so tightly together that he felt sure he chipped at least one of them. He took a deep breath and pushed against the dash board with his foot and pulled on his leg with his hands. The pain was unimaginable, he could feel metal burrowing into his skin and as he pulled it sunk deep and tore the pale flesh. But he didn't stop, even when the metal scraped against a bone. He yanked hard and the metal released its teeth from Spencer's leg and he was finally free from the grasp of the battered SUV.

Reid laughed aloud, looking at the tattered skin of his left leg and grinning.

"I'm not weak", he repeated quietly. He opened his eyes, finally believing his own words. "I'm not weak!" He yelled, chuckling. The water was up to his shoulders, but he didn't panic this time. _Logic,_ he told himself. Dr Spencer Reid knew basically everything, so he knew that in this situation he had to wait for the water to fill the car, so the pressure would be equalised and then he could open the door and escape.

The water was up to his neck now. _Stay calm,_ his mind whispered. His tried to steady his breathing, but when he peeped out through his eyelids the water had risen to his chin. He lifted himself up so his head touched the roof. His heart skipped a beat when water started to lap at his lips. He put his face right up to the top of the SUV, taking deep breaths. There was around 2 inches of breathing space left. Spencer took one last breath before the water invaded.

He opened his eyes under the water, shutting them instantly when the coldness bit into his eyeballs. Spencer felt around for the door, knowing that the pressure had equalised. He found it and opened his eyes again, squinting through the water. Already he could feel the need for air, he let out some of the breath he was holding as he grappled the door handle, but that only made the desire stronger.

Spencer opened the door, his lungs begging for air. The door didn't hassle him; he swam from the wreck, almost screaming each time his left leg moved, allowing dirty river water into the open wound. He saw the moonlight getting closer and he began to power through the pain. His lungs gasped for air, squeezing tightly inside him. He was so close to the surface, he could practically taste the cool night air.

Suddenly he was jolted back into the depths. The invisible hand of a current wrapped around his torso, dragging him back under. He yelped, swallowing water as he did and harassing his already painful lungs. He felt his body being torn back and forth, his leg pounding with agony.

Black spots danced over his vision. He swam desperately against the current that repeatedly dragged him down. He kicked his legs against the invisible hands, the water around him began turning red, but adrenaline overrode the pain as he lashed through the water, his lungs ready to burst.

Kick. Swim.

Kick.

He began to buck with convulsions for oxygen.

His head broke the surface and he gasped for air, taking water back with it and spluttering. He breathed as deeply as he could, kicking his injured leg violently to stay afloat. He could feel the icy tendrils of a current threatening to tear him back under. He glanced around swiping his wet hair out of his eyes. He rasped, fearing that the blessed oxygen may be taken away again, and he knew the next time he went under he wouldn't be coming back up.

He spun around in the water, making ripples around him. He allowed his leg to rest as he spun around, the bridge had disappeared, he saw only water and the narrow trees surrounding. The water began to cloud with wisps of blood and Spencer had to close his eyes against the giddiness, his head bobbing under for a minute. He came up coughing again.

His eyes caught a muddy bank a short swim to his right. He prayed his body could hold out and began to swim. The short swim turned out to be much longer. He could feel other aches springing up across his body, his face stung with pain, his nose had already been broken by Lance's fist, but now his whole face burnt with the same intense throb. His shoulder was also now rebelling against the swimming.

He ignored all his ailments, focusing on getting to the bank. The water got shallower and he could feel rocks shifting beneath him. He stood all too quickly, collapsing back into the waves. He attempted it again slower this time, but still his leg forced him to remain down.

Spencer heaved his soggy self from the waves, his teeth began chattering and he wrapped his arms around himself. _Now's not the time to stop,_ he reprimanded. Spencer groaned as he dragged himself to the nearest tree, using it to support him. _You have to get back. Alex and Hotch need you,_ he told himself and this seemed to get the adrenaline pumping again.

Reid stood on his two feet, battling the pain radiating from his body. He took a step, buckling into a tree. He gritted his teeth and got his mucky, wet, purple converse back under him. He took a successful step, and another, and another. He focused his mind on the injured agents and this carried him out of the trees and onto a road. He saw in the near distance the bright lights of the bustling city, he could hear the nostalgic tones of beeping horns and car exhausts. He narrowed his eyes on his target and set off on a speedy limp, barely noticing the small trail of blood he left behind.

* * *

He was so close he could taste the city when he finally flagged a taxi. The driver looked him over wearily. The young, dripping wet man smiled tiredly at the driver.

"You look like you need a hospital, buddy", the driver frowned worriedly, seeing the state of Reid's bloody leg and the dark bruises peppering his face.

"No, I...I need to get to Miami Police Department. Y..you know it?" Spencer muttered, desperate to get in the warm car. The driver kissed his teeth, 3 of them were gold and 1 silver. When he smiled the front silver one glinted against the reflection of the moon, reminding Spencer of being trapped in the SUV, with the moon beating down on the waves.

"Course I know it. What you wanting there?" The Driver questioned and Spencer hissed in pain and impatience. The driver tapped his ringed fingers on the wheel and gave Spencer a multicoloured smile with his variety of teeth.

"I'm an agent helping on a case. P...please, can you take me there?" The driver nodded, knowing not to ask more and he unlocked the door, letting Spencer in.

"You got money? No offence or nothing, you just don't look like you have any", the driver grumbled, wincing when a sodden Spencer sat on his clean seats.

Spencer blinked at him and reached down to his injured leg, reaching into his sock and pulling out some bills. The driver nodded, turning back to the wheel and rolling his eyes, _why do I get the weirdos?_ He thought with a chuckle.

* * *

Spencer practically fell out of the car when they arrived. The driver stuck his hand out and Spencer gave him the whole stash from his sock, not caring how much of a tip he was giving.

He stumbled through the door. Tara looked up and grinned at him, though her bubbliness soon fell away when her eyes saw what a state he was in.

"Oh sugar! What happened, baby?" She gasped, hurrying over. Spencer waved her off with a heavy hand.

"'M fine, I..I just need to get up there and see the others", he insisted pointing at the stairs. Tara gaped at him and released her latch on his arm. _Almost there_ , he thought, lifting his foot onto one step and almost tumbling back down. He scrunched up his face (which was painful to do considering the damage he'd done to it). He climbed another step, pushing past the brick wall his body had mentally built.

Tara watched him as he heaved himself up each step, she had a hand over her mouth the whole time. When he got to the top step she finally saw sense and grabbed the phone to call an ambulance.

Spencer sighed happily as he feet connected with the second floor. He slumped into the door, pushing a dirty, cold and trembling hand against it, only just managing to get it open.

And there they were, albeit most of his team and his old team. He almost passed out there without even speaking to them. He took another deep breath and steeped froward.

"...the body", Spencer caught Morgan's words and a panic suddenly grasped at his broken body. He shuffled closer again, his eyes taunt with worry.

"What body?" He asked forgetting his whole ordeal for a split second. Everyone's faces whooshed around, locking onto him, their mouths dropping open.

"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" Spencer asked, before his legs finally gave way.

* * *

 **Again thank you all for your support.**

 **Tannerrose5 I'm so glad you like it, it took a while to get off the ground, but I'm glad people are enjoying it. I have ideas for the finale, but I'm just hoping they live up to expectation.**

 **Criminalmindsadict16, thank you for your review, much appreciated. I'm glad you like it, I'll try and keep that streak going.**

 **I have a wedding tomorrow, so there won't be any chapters I'm afraid, but I'm working on them.**

 **Back at you ahowell1993, in a while crocodile.**


	11. Possessed

( **Disclaimer: I do not own Crimianl Minds or it's characters)**

 **Sorry for no chapter yesterday, like I said I was bridesmaid at a wedding.**

 **This is the second form last chapter. Yep there's only one more chapter to go. I may consider writing an epilogue, but I'll end it with the next chapter for now so I can start a new story.**

 **I hope you guys have enjoyed the story, don't worry it's not over yet, there's so so so much more to come, hand on heart, I promise. I'm super stoked for what's to come, I hope you guys will be too.**

 **So here it is, chapter 11, please enjoy and review!**

 **Thank you!**

* * *

"Spencer!" Gasped JJ, lunging for Reid as his knees buckled. She grasped her arms around his thin frame, keeping him semi-standing. "You're _alive_?" She panted, holding him in her arms as tightly as she could. Luckily, the two teams had gathered around and Morgan was helping Spencer down to the floor.

Matthew offered his hoodie as a pillow, but Spencer frowned trying to get up, but a forceful hand pushed him back down.

"Easy Pretty Boy", soothed Morgan, who was checking over Reid's injuries.

"I can sit up", Reid insisted in a painful voice, which had been assaulted by river water.

"Spence, we thought you were _dead_ ", gasped JJ as Spencer tried pulling himself into a sitting position. Spencer gasped adjusting his leg. The adrenaline had finally worn off and now the pain was hitting him head on.

" _Dead_? I haven't been gone that long", he croaked, frowning at the blond through a swollen eye.

"It's been 6 hours since the shootout and the SUV was at the bottom of the river. So yes: we thought you were long dead", chided Emily, although she was supremely thankful to see her young genius.

"You look a wreck. What happened? Wait I'll get you some water", added JJ, Spencer's eyes went wide and he shook his head vigorously.

"I've had enough water thanks", he laughed, grimacing from the pain in his face, that sparked up as he smiled. They all exchanged a look of worry. JJ was sat next to Spencer with an arm around him, she could feel him trembleinv uncontrollably and he was ice cold to the touch. Morgan was knelt on his other side and Garcia was kneeling right in front of him, taking his face in her hands and examining it thoroughly.

"You need a hospital", she concluded, taking his hand in hers. Tara's voice rose up from the doorway.

"I've already called an ambulance", she sang and Spencer groaned.

"Do not argue, you're _going_ to a hospital. I mean _Jesus_ , look at your leg", frowned Micheal, pointing to Reid's left leg. The pant leg was completely torn and a deep wound scuttled down to his knee cap where the bone was partially exposed. Reid could feel the extent of his wound now, and it was not fun.

"How in the hell did you get here on _that_ leg", Stanley gasped, gaping at Spencer's leg.

"Uh I ignored it", shrugged Spencer, "that and adrenaline".

"And your stubbornness", added Emily.

"How did you get out your car?" Bleated JJ, her blue eyes looking softly into his tawny brown ones.

"I uh..I was pinned. The water was rising and my leg", he motioned to his leg with disdain, "wouldn't budge. I had to pry it out and the metal kind of ripped into my skin." He grimaced, remembering the agony of pulling his leg from where it was pinned. "Then I had to wait for the SUV to fill up so the pressure was equal and I could open the door."

Garcia stroked his face absentmindedly, wishing her fingers could magic away the big red and purple botchs and small sharp lacerations.

"But why didn't the rescue services see you? Didn't you call out to them or swim to the nearest bank, they've been searching for your body since they arrived on the scene", Morgan asked, his eyebrows furrowed in thoughtful confusion.

"Current", is all he said, closing his eyes on the traumatic memory.

"Hotch! How are they, Hotch and Alex, I would've stayed, but Hotch ordered me to go after wolf. Did Rossi go to the hospital with them? Why didn't you guys go? Is it because of me? Has..." Spencer was practically hyperventilating at this point, his big brown eyes flicking from each team member.

"Reid, calm down", Morgan put his hand on Spencer's shoulder and he flinched away, pain flaring up from his touch. Morgan looked a little worried, but decided to brush it off.

"Spence, there...there's something you need to know", Spencer's eyes stopped flicking and held onto JJ's. His heart sunk at the look of sadness in her blue eyes.

"Are they okay? We're there complications? We have to go see them", he rambled feebly, trying to lift himself onto his feet, but his arm refused to hold his weight. Morgan made sure he didn't try and get back up.

"No, Spence listen", JJ's voice cracked, and she sniffed back a sob. "Alex...she didn't make it to the hospital. Spencer, she died not long after you left. Ther...there was too much blood." A tear rolled down her cheek, which she quickly swept away. She looked at Spencer, who was staring straight ahead of him, his breath coming out in short, sharp rasps.

"Reid, are you alright?" Garcia cooed, fingering one of his curls. Spencer didn't answer, continuing to look ahead, his breath was harsher and more ragged now. A single tear fell.

"No..."he whispered. JJ rubbed his back, but he continued to hyperventilate.

"Calm down Reid", Morgan fretted, worried about Spencer's breathing. Reid gasped out his next breath and put a hand over his chest as he struggled to breath.

"Reid!" Cried Morgan. "Breath man", he begged. Spencer continued to pant and rasp. His eyes rolled as blackness swirled around his vision.

"Spence, it's okay, it's okay", stuttered JJ.

Spencer's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went limp, falling from JJ's grasp. If Morgan hadn't been quick to grab Reid's shoulder, he would've crashed into the floor.

"SPENCE!" JJ wailed.

"Reid!" Emily and Garcia cried, Emily stumbling forward.

"Reid? Reid, wake up man", Morgan ordered, taping Spencer's cheek lightly. He didn't stir, but his breathing remained frantic and rough.

"What's wrong with him?" Whimpered Amelia, a hand over her mouth.

"He's probably lost a good deal of blood", Micheal pointed out, his eyebrows motioning to Reid's leg and also the fact that Spencer was exceptionally pale.

"Oh Spence, wake up please", sobbed JJ, who couldn't hold in her emotions any longer.

The squel of an ambulance siren could be heard out of the windows. Morgan laid Spencer's head gently on Matthews hoodie. He then fumbled with his belt and quickly buckled it tightly over Reid's leg; he hoped this could stop the blood still blossoming from his leg.

"JJ, try and get him to respond. I'm going to see how bad his knee is." His leg was partly covered in the bloody rags of his pant leg. Morgan scrambled up and pulled a pair of scissors from a pot on the desk. He knelt back down beside Spencer, who JJ was trying to coax awake, her words attacked by continuous tears and sobs.

"Don't do this to us Spence!"

Morgan took part of the torn pant and pried it from the skin, the drying blood was acting like glue. He cut the fabric and gently uncovered the wound. More bone was revealed now the pant leg was out of the way. The gash ran raggedly down his thigh to the bottom of his knee cap. The skin of his knee cap flapped over the bone, which was on view.

Garcia reeled away, distress etched in her features.

Spencer's breathing was still off. His face was contorted in pain, his mind screaming one thing at him; _your fault, your fault_.

* * *

Jason strutted around his temporary office. His presence made the young man at the computer shiver.

"I want everything on their boss, uh I think his second name is Hotch, or something like that". The young tech boy didn't argue, his fingers dancing across the keyboard.

"The unit chief is called Aaron Hotchner..."

"That's him!" Shouted Jason enthusiastically, rushing to the computer. "Now I want _everything_ ", he stared sternly at the boy, who swallowed thickly and pressed a few buttons. Jason's eyes lit up with delight.

"Well isn't that interesting", mused Wolf.

"The guy who did it was Peter Lewis, otherwise known as the infamous Mr Scratch", whispered tech boy.

"I think you found Agent Aaron Hotchner's biggest fear", Jason smiled at the boy and he sighed in relief.

* * *

 _My fault_ , Hotch thought, clutching his head and steadying his breath which he'd lost with grief.

Hotch had sent Rossi out of the room so he could think. He was starting to regret his choice. _I sent him out there and now he's dead. It's my fault._

He didn't know how long he was sat there in silence, delving into dark thoughts. But at some point Morgan burst in, breathless as he fell through the door.

"H..hot..Hotch. It's Spencer, he's alive!" He announced, panting. Hotch's thoughts lifted like a cloud and his mouth hung open.

"Rossi..he said..."

"I know, we all thought he was gone, but he turned up at the office and he's hurt...but Hotch, he's _alive_ ", Morgan almost jumped for joy, his eyes full of gratitude.

"He's _alive_ ", Hotch whispered to himself. He looked up suddenly, locking eyes with Derek. "I need to see him", _I need to confirm_ , he thought to himself.

"He's in surgery, his leg was all kinds of messed up. But he's going to be all right". Hotch nodded, a big weight lifted from his shoulders.

* * *

"Are you all family of Spencer Reid?" A tall male nurse asked doubtfully, looking at the team, all of whom looked nothing alike.

"Aaron Hotchner, a patient here, is his emergency contact and we are his team. There is no one else here for him", Rossi concluded sharply, not in the mood for an argument, he just wanted to make sure Spencer was okay. The nurse glanced around and noticed that there was no one else there for his patient. He sighed and glanced at the clipboard.

"Okay, but this isn't a form of special privilege." He kissed his teeth and glanced up. "Spencer had a build up of water in his lungs, which can be very dangerous, so we had to put a chest tube in to make sure the lungs are free of liquid. His leg was our second concern, he lost a good amount of blood, the water didn't help the blood loss. There was a serious amount of muscle and tissue damage, he may struggle to walk on that leg for a considerable amount of time. His shoulder was dislocated, it's been set and put in a sling for now. His nose is broken along with his orbital socket and a hairline fracture on his cheek bone. There isn't much we can do for those injuries, except ice for the bruises and tape for the nose".

"Is he awake?" JJ asked quietly.

"He _was_ , but he was extremely distressed so we had to sedate him for the time being. He should be awake in a few hours. He's in room 86 when you want to see him." They all nodded and the nurse left to finish his shift.

* * *

 ** _One day 7 hours later_**

 **10.36am**

"I'm fine! Let me see him already!" Demanded Hotch, trying to get out of bed for the hundredth time that day.

"My god, you and him are too much alike. He asked to see you, tried to persuade the nurse that he could walk. You can see him later, when your doctor lets you get out of bed, but you will not jeopardise your health", warned Rossi with a smirk. Hotch opened his mouth, but knew not to argue with the older agent.

"He's okay though?" Hotch asked yet again and Rossi and Garcia rolled their eyes and groaned "yes!".

Emily, Morgan and JJ tripped into the room, one behind the other, like something from a sketch.

"There's been another murder, the team wants us there now", Emily grimaced, heading back out the room. Rossi pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You," he pointed an accusing finger in Hotch's direction. "Are to do what you're told, I'm serious", he grinned and Hotch's glower and jogged after the team. Garcia stayed, but Morgan's head peeked around the door a second later.

"You too baby girl. We need those fingers of yours".

"Oh I will show you exactly what these fingers do", Garcia teased playfully, chasing after her stud muffin.

Hotch sighed after they left, a sense of loneliness creeping over him.

It couldn't have been anymore than 5 minutes later that the door creaked open. Hotch's mind jumped to conclusions; _Spencer?_

It wasn't Spencer.

* * *

The team had been gone about an hour or less. Spencer was getting a bit restless.

His chest tube had been removed the night before and his leg was wrapped in thick bandages. He wanted to sneak a look behind the clean, white bandages, his curiosity trying to get the better of him.

His door opened silently, and his eyes whipped up. He couldn't suppress his smile at the friendly face.

Hotch stood in the doorway. Adorned in the same fetching hospital gown as he was, his face straight and serious.

"Hotch. They told me that neither of us were allowed to leave our beds yet. Did you sneak out?" Spencer asked, raising an eyebrow. Hotch didn't reply. "Are we meant to be quiet?" Spencer whispered, looking around behind Hotch at the empty hallway. Still Hotch didn't reply and his unmoving features were beginning to scare Reid. Hotch let the door shut behind him, he continued to stare at Spencer menacingly.

"Hot..." Spencer cut himself off when a gun was aimed at him from the hand of his own boss.

"A..Aaron? W...what are you...what are you doing?" Stuttered Spencer, as calmly as he could. Hotch's eyes never left Spencer, neither did the gun. Spencer gently removed his IV, slowly so that Hotch wouldn't react badly.

"Hotch? Please, stop this." Reid slipped his legs gingerly over the side of the bed, wincing at the movement on his bad leg. _Maybe I can't walk yet,_ he thought to himself.

Hotch stepped closer, he walked as if he hadn't been shot in the leg; possessed. The gun trembled in his hand, but his face remained serious.

"Agent Reid." Reid's eyes snapped to the door and he bolted up right in his bed. He'd seen that face countless times over the last few weeks.

"Recognise me, agent?" Grinned Jason Wolf as he skirted around the walls. Hotch took another step, the gun still levelled at Spencer. Hotch's eyes flitted fearfully to the man who entered just behind him.

Spencer took the hesitation and lunged for the gun. He was weaker than Hotch, but he didn't let go of the gun, trying to pull it from Hotch's sweaty palms, twisting the barrel so it faced away from him. Hotch's fingers were on the trigger and the attack and struggle caused his finger to slam down over the plastic, unleashing a bullet.

The struggle halted abruptly, Reid's eyes wide and scared, staring into Hotch's fearless and dead ones. Spencer felt the warmth of blood oozing over his hands and his breath caught in his throat. Aaron's eyebrows furrowed as he looked down; his eyes finally revealed some of his old humanity when he looked up shamefully. The gun clattered to the floor in Hotch's moment of clarity and he stumbled away from Spencer. His eyes gazing at the blood staining his white hospital gown.

Hotch backed into the wall and touched his wound, looking back at Spencer, his faced twitched slightly and his eyes showed a hint of pride. Spencer gaped at Hotch's blood and stepped forward to help his friend. But Hotch's eyes switched between a dead gaze and a sad one and Reid wasn't risking anymore chances. He swiped the gun off the floor and pointed it at Wolf.

Hotch's mind became less clouded and he could feel his limbs again, he could feel control; he could feel pain. He felt his side, lifting the gown. The bullet had grazed the flesh, leaving a deep wound, but nothing serious, though it would need stitches. Hotch tried to take complete control of his body, but he caved in once more, leaving the real Hotch watching from behind a dark stare of the drug induced Aaron Hotchner.

Wolf was scowling at Hotch and his mouth quivered slightly.

"You shot your own boss", gasped Jason and Reid's hand shook more violently.

"I..I never meant to hurt him. A..and he would never of meant to hurt me", Spencer spluttered. "Jason Wolf, you're under..."

"You're pathetic. You know that, right? Look at you! You can barely hold a gun", snorted Wolf, crossing his arms.

"I'd shoot you, right here, right now, but I'm not like you. But I will do what I have to if you try _anything"._

"No, you're right, what does keep Dr Spencer Reid ticking? I've done a good bit of research on you and your team an..." Wolf started to explain calmly.

"DON'T!" Yelled Spencer. He gritted his teeth, calming himself. "Don't speak of my team. You took Alex away from us and Mara from CSI. You don't get to speak of us." Wolf raised his eyes, chuckling in mock surrender.

"Touched a nerve, Dr?"

"Put your hands behind your head and shut up!" Demanded Spencer, steadying his fingers over the trigger and flicking the gun up to Jason's head. Jason followed without hesitation, smiling the whole time.

"And what are you going to do now, Dr Reid", Wolf asked curiously.

"I'm taking you in", Spencer snarled, stepping closer, the gun still trained on Wolf.

"Oh, I don't think so", Jason grinned maliciously. "Do it." He said in a dull, monotone voice. Spencer had a split second of confusion before he felt something smack hard into the back of his head. His vision went black, erasing the laughing murderer from his line of sight, making him blind. He collapsed to the floor. And everything went quiet and numb.

Hotch dropped the vase, water and glass scattering over the floor and an unconscious Spencer. Wolf gave him instructions, nodding back thickly, Hotch began dragging Spencer's limp form to a wheelchair. Wolf instructed him again and Hotch cleaned the blood and changed into some new clothes. Wolf checked the hallway and beckoned Hotch out. The three of them left the hospital without confrontation.

* * *

 **Two chapter left, the next on is a small chapter on what Jason Wolf did to Hotch and then it's the finale!**

 **Also you may be wondering why I left out Reid waking up and his grief over Alex, that was on purpose. The final chapter will explore that.**

 **Thank you for the reviews, keep them coming.**

 **Be back tomorrow, I'll be in the air for 10 hours tomorrow before I get to America, but I promise you an update tomorrow!**


	12. Hotch

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters)**

 ** _Tannerrose5,_ I'm glad it was confusing, I was hoping you wouldn't figure out that bit just yet, this whole chapter will be dedicated to that.**

 **This is only a short chapter for two reason: 1) there's only a little bit to explain and 2) the finale is next!**

 **Enjoy this chapter, I hope things become clearer, and just keep in mind Jason Wolf's established method of torture; using an individual's biggest fear against them.**

* * *

Hotch sighed as a doctor came in carrying a clipboard, his head folded onto his chin. This was something he would not miss: the constant staff drop-ins and check ups, the attention was killing him, no doubt Reid felt the same.

"Excuse me, I was wondering when I can get up and moving?" Hotch asked, his usual scowl in place. The doctor didn't answer, he wore a faint smile as his eyes flicked over the chart.

Hotch huffed angrily; he was fed up of being treated like a patient.

He was about to ask again, when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder.

"Morning Agent", Jason Wolf grinned down at Hotch. Hotch's eyes flew wide open and he instantly reached for his gun, which wasn't there, even the one in his shoe had been taken.

"Uh-uh-uh", tutted Wolf, pulling out his own weopen. Hotch froze as the butt stroked his temple.

"I found out a lot about you Agent Hotchner. Including what scares you most." Hotch's breath grew rapid. He had only one though; _Jack. What had he done to Jack? "_ Does the name Peter Lewis ring any bells?" He asked sweetly, tapping the barrel against Hotch's head. Hotch's breath caught in his throat out of both relief and fear. _He doesn't have Jack! He can't hurt him._ He narrowed his eyes at Jason, _what are you planning?_ He thought.

"He's in prison", Hotch growled, making Jason laugh mockingly.

"Of course he is!" He smacked his thigh as if it was their running joke. "But I'm not."

"I know _exactly_ what he did to you. That was, what? 7 months ago now?" He kissed his teeth. "I can't bring him here, but I can play like he does; I know his games", with that Jason revealed a canister and sprayed Hotch head on, causing him to cough and splutter.

"I've gotta give it to him", Hotch bent double in bed as Jason stood over him. "He's a clever guy. But it's not hard to recreate his mastery". He sprayed the drug in Hotch's face again, eliciting a fresh wave of gags and coughs, as he rasped for fresh air.

Jason stood watching the agent trying to breath normally again. It wasn't long before the drug took effect. Hotch's eyes took on a glassy expression and his mouth mouthed random syllables.

"Amazing drug", Jason mused, rolling the canister in his hand and appreciating the effort his men went through to get it in such a short length of time.

Jason waited a little longer, to be absolutely sure that the drug was working. He yanked Hotch's face up to his own and examined it.

"Now, Aaron, you're going to listen closely and do exactly what I say. Nod if you understand", Hotch nodded, his eyes frozen in place. Jason grinned widely. "Good. You and me are going to have a little fun with your youngest agent. We're going to find out what makes him tick", Hotch remained staring at nothing, but behind those eyes the real Hotch began to panic.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed that little chapter, next one is coming as soon as I can make it.**

 **The drug Hotch was given is supposed to be similar to the one he was given in season 10 episode 22, 'Mr Scratch'. I know it's probably not accurate, but I'm not trying to be accurate. The drug subdues the victim, and like Mr Scratch, Jason controls the victim through the drug, he can ask Hotch to do anything and he will do it.**

 **Okay, that's it for now. I've just checked into my flight to Miami from London, then we take a second flight from Miami to Orlando, we should get there by 3pm American time, that's in about 9 hours! So no updates until then I'm afraid.**

 **See ya soon!**


	13. Undiscovered Fear (finale)

**(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's charceters)**

 **It's the finale! I hope you've all loved this story as much as I have loved writing it. I sincerely hope it lives up to expectations, I was sat in a hotel bed alone trying to sleep and instead I decided to figure out how this would end and what you're reading is the story that played out in my head.**

 **This is a bit of an AU, only slightly. In this story Diane Reid's dementia isn't revealed with Cat Adams, but instead with my OC.**

 **Thank you all for your reviews, the support and loyalty has been overwhelming.**

 **I must apologise sincerely for the delay. I could've written this all really quick, but I wanted to add something unexpected and I needed to go through the whole story and see if it would fit in. I'm finishing it up now and I hope it was worth the wait.**

 **You'll see why this chapter took so long, it's my longest chapter ever! Almost 7k words!**

 **I'm really nervous what you guys will think...I hope the story line is alright.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **11.27am**

The teams arrived at the crime scene along with several officers for protection.

"Are we sure this is connected to Wolf?" Morgan asked, kneeling next to the body. The victim had been shot in the back of the head.

"There's CCTV which reveals it was Jason and I was told there was another note". Micheal looked over at the first responding officers who came over with a plastic bag.

"He's devolving", muttered Morgan, frowning at the overwhelming evidence that Wolf had left in his wake.

"I take it you're CSI?" Micheal revealed his badge and the officer nodded. "This was left on the body, I don't understand what it means. Maybe you will". He handed the bag to Micheal and Stanley, Morgan and Emily gathered around to get a closer look.

The note was another illustration. It showed 14 bottles on a brick wall. All the bottles had animated eyes drawn on them. Underneath this drawing was a second image, similar to the first with a few key changes. One of the bottles was lay smashed on the floor, the eyes closed and a pool of water surrounding it. Another bottle was lay also in pieces with it's eyes closed in another puddle; this one was red, and the bottle had a small hole on one of the shards of glass to represent where a bullet had destroyed it. Two of the other bottles had fallen off the wall and the image portrayed them in free fall, their eyes wide and scared and a piece of tape wrapped around the lower part of the bottle.

"Another representation of us", sighed Stanley.

"Those two are Mara and Alex, but I don..." Emily paused.

"Perhaps he is warning us that there will be two victims next", suggested Stanley, Micheal looked up at his detective doubtfully. Morgan squinted at the image when a lightbulb went off.

"This is a distraction",he burst out; perplexed. "He didn't follow his usual MO, he left way too much evidence, which could suggest he's becoming disorganised, but he wanted us to come here. He must of been in a rush, which is why he didn't follow his normal procedure". Babbled Morgan, his words trying to catch up with his through process.

"Why would he want us to come here so soon? Is he trying to finish this? Finish _us_?" Stanley asked. Emily's eyes widened and she glanced at Morgan.

"Those bottles, they must be Reid and Hotch! He sent us on a wild goose chase so he could get to them! Oh god! We shouldn't have left them", Morgan was already on the phone, whilst Micheal and Stanley gaped at them.

"We can't be completely sure. He may be trying to scare us with the threat of taking more of us out", suggested Micheal, gulping nervously. No one seemed to be listening to the leader.

"Rossi? Rossi, I need you to go back to the hospital, now. Take back up. I don't know, Dave! But if you don't get there soon something will."

* * *

 **11.43am**

Hotch sat in the back of the car, watching Spencer. His drug induced body was prepared to hit Spencer if he woke up, but his true self (hidden beneath the drug) wanted to hug the agent. If he was in control tears would've been rolling down his cheeks. Spencer was going to be killed, like Alex, and it was his fault; he couldn't save her and this time he led Spencer straight to his death, _your fault_ , he hissed to himself.

* * *

 **11.47am**

Rossi barged through the hospital doors, JJ and Garcia scurrying after him.

"You two take Reid's room, I'll check Hotch's", Rossi motioned one of the backup officers to follow him and the other two went with JJ and Penelope.

Rossi jogged to Hotch's room and knocked on the door. Hotch didn't reply and Rossi's heart picked up into a rapid pace. He rammed the handle down and threw the door open, aiming his gun into the empty room. The bed was unmade and a couple of the pillows lay strewn across the floor. Rossi cursed himself. _You're too late_ , he thought.

"Where is he?" The officer asked, lowering his weapon and scowling around the room.

"That's something I'd like to know too", grumbled Rossi, exiting the room and heading for Reid's.

He saw Garcia stumble from the room and he power walked over to her hunched form.

"What is it Garcia?" He questioned in a peculiarly high voice that made the Italian sound like a prepubescent teen.

"H...he's not there, Rossi! He's gone and there...oh Rossi, there's blood... where's Hotch?" She gazed up at him hopefully, a tear sliding down her cheeks, smudging the pink eyeliner encasing her lower eyelid. Rossi shook his head sadly and Garcia's breath caught in her throat as she attempted to quell a sob. Rossi rubbed her shoulder, but with the anger boiling inside him, he knew he wasn't going to be a very comforting person, so he left her mid sob and turned to Reid's room.

There was a small trail of blood from the bed to the IV stand and a long skid of blood decorated the cream wall. At the end of the bed was another puddle of blood and a vase that was shattered across the floor. JJ was staring at the blood, her body visibly shaking.

"Surely..." her voice trembled as she spoke. "Surely they'd of heard...the shots." She looked bitterly at the blood. She'd already lost Alex, as well as believing she'd lost Spencer, she couldn't lose him again.

"Wolf is one organised son of a bitch. Knowing him, he Probably had a silencer on his gun." Rossi attempted to explain.

"Do you..do you think it's his blood? Spencer's I mean", she mumbled, looking over at Rossi, her blue eyes full of sadness and pain.

"No. Hotch is missing too. It's probably his as well".

* * *

 **12.37pm**

Spencer drifted from out of the numbing darkness and a deep ache began radiating from the back of his head. His whole body felt exceedingly sore, especially his face.

He cracked open his eyes and to his surprise a dim light greeted him, as opposed to the bright artificial light he'd woken up to the previous day. He tried to open his eyes wider, but they rebelled against the action, forcing his eyelids back closed.

"Mrumpf", the sound awoke Reid's ears and he pried his eyes open and slowly turned his head around, wincing as he disturbed the throb in his head. His eyes skirted the room and they caught a figure. He blinked a few times to have a clearer view. It was Hotch.

Hotch's hands were tied tightly behind his back, and his legs were cable tied in front of him, a thick strip of tape covering his lips.

"Hotch?" Spencer croaked, and everything came back to him at once and he gasped at the bombarding memories. He tried to stand and found himself bound to a chair.

"No, no, no..." his head filled with images of the shed in the cemetery and burning fish guts asulted his nostrils.

"Mmmrph", Hotch yelled through the gag and tape. Reid's eyes took on a terrified and clouded look. "Mmmed!" He tried calling his name, but the same noise just kept coming through. Spencer's eyes finally broke away from the ropes tying him down and he looked over at Hotch,flinching slightly when Hotch attempted to call out again.

"Is it you, Hotch?" He whispered, locking eyes with his boss. Hotch nodded. "We're going to die here, aren't we?" Spencer whimpered. Hotch frowned and shook his head vigorously.

"Mmmmh!" Hotch snapped. "Mmmmm, mmnt mrrpf" it was hopeless, he slumped back into the wall. Spencer closed his eyes and a small tear fell from the left one.

The door groaned open and Jason Wolf staggered in, a wide smile decorating his sharp, angular face.

"Ah, Agents! Good to see you're finally awake. I bet you're wishing you never got involved with my old team." He cracked his knuckles and made his way to Spencer.

* * *

 **12.50pm**

"I want you to send officers to these locations", Rossi ordered to the county sheriff, who nodded curtly and turned to his men. Micheal frowned and stepped up to Rossi.

"Surely _we_ should be taking those locations. If Wolf is there then we should be bringing him in", insisted Harper, crossing his arms.

"He's not there", Rossi said simply, pushing past Micheal and confronting his team.

"What do you mean?" Stanley asked.

"He knows that we're onto him, he won't go to any location that could have a connection to him", sighed Morgan, rubbing his head.

"Then where is he?" They all turned their heads to see Amelia stood in the threshold of the conference room. Her eyes were puffy and red from harsh tears, burning her skin.

"We don't know", blubbed Garcia, wiping her own eyes.

"Well you make sure you find them, bring Spencer and Hotch home", her lip trembled and she returned to her desk, where she'd been sat for most of the last few days.

Harper's phone buzzed.

"Shit, I have a report I need to sign back at the sheriffs department. Stan, will you cover for me?" Stanley looked a little crestfallen, but muttered "sure" all the same.

"So where do we start?" Stanley inquired, giving Rossi a hopeful and determined look.

"We need to find anyone who may have a connection to Wolf. I don't think he could do any of this alone, he's always been one step ahead of us."

* * *

 **1.03pm**

"I know everything about you and your team, Dr Reid", announced Wolf, after he finished laying out his tools and cleaning the knives methodically. "I was instantly drawn to you and your boss here."

"What do you want?" Spat Spencer. Wolf continued as if Spencer hadn't spoken.

"I asked myself; What is Dr Spencer Reid afraid of?" Wolf started pacing again. "Is it the memories of your kidnap. Are you afraid of Tobias Hankel? But then I found out he was dead. You certainly put a literal spin of the "kill your own demons" quote. So it couldn't be him. And that also wrote Jack Callen from the running considering you killed him as well. I certainly wouldn't want to become your demon", chuckled Jason.

"Tell me Spencer, what scares you". Spencer remained stubbornly silent. He knew exactly why Wolf wanted that information. He had to keep Wolf guessing. Maybe his team would find them. _How_? Hissed his brain, proabilty and logic were not working in his favour.

"You're pretty interesting. The rest of your team are easier to understand. Miss Garcia is terrified of birds. Pretty little Emily is claustrophobic. Agent Rossi is pretty scared of snakes. Lovely Jenifer is shit scared of the woods. And as for Agent Hotchner, he is afraid of Peter Lewis. But you, you're a mystery." Spencer's eye twitched with rage.

"Now tell me," he waltzed over to Hotch and held a knife he had stuck in his back pocket into his neck. "What is Spencer Reid scared of?" Spencer swallowed thickly as the knife drew a droplet of blood.

"Stop, stop, okay I'll tell you, just don't hurt him!" He begged.

"I'm afraid of the dark. Okay?", breathed Spencer, Jason, however, kept the knife to Hotch's neck.

"Dr Reid, that is the most boring fear there is. It's something only children should fear. No, I want your biggest fear." Jason stood and walked over to the lights, plugging them into complete darkness. Spencer gasped, his head flicking from side to side. The light came back on and he breathed deeply again.

"See. You're barely scared of the dark. You must of overcome it", his said in a wistful way.

"Besides how can I kill you with darkness." He repositioned the knife on Hotch's neck. Reid's lip trembled. "I've already made Aaron face his worst nightmare, so don't think I won't slice through his windpipe."

"You..you can't control my real fear", stuttered Reid desperately. "And you certainly can't kill me with it." Spencer mumbled, sighing when Jason took the knife from Hotch's neck.

"Well come on then Dr Reid", he bent down as if he was talking to a child and he spoke amicably. "Don't keep us in suspense now". Reid licked his lips, his eyes flicking to Hotch who was watching Spencer like a hawk.

"My uh... my Mother..."

"Oh you don't need to tell me about her. She's a crazy isn't she?"

"I don't understand what you mean by "a crazy", my mother has a disease, she isn't part of a cult", Reid explained shakily and Jason laughed heartily.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night with the knowledge that you put her in the insane asylum". Jason narrowed his eyes and smirked, waiting for an explosive reaction.

"My mother lives in a controlled environment which allows her to live the best she can with her schizophrenia. She's in a place that can best help her. I'm sorry Mr Wolf, but it seems you don't know me as well as you thought". Jason's jaw jutted out and he marched up to Spencer and grabbed a handful of his brown curls in a rough fist, backhanding him hard across the face. Spencer's head jerked to the right, but with his hair held tightly, his pain doubled.

"Don't get smart with me. You still haven't answered the question", he revealed the knife from his belt. Spencer swallowed thickly, re-wetting his lips.

"Schizophrenia is a hereditary condition. That means I have a pretty good chance of adopting her condition. That used to be my biggest fear; developing schizophrenia . However I am now past the age that it would typically present itself in males. I wasn't scared of it as much as I used to be. But recently I found out that my mother is in the early stages of dementia. Within a few years she will have forgotten I am her son..."

"Boo hoo, poor Spencey!" Hotch had been watching Reid closely. He hadn't known about the dementia, he couldn't understand why Reid wouldn't tell him something like that. Spencer avoided his eyes, feeling tears well in his own tawny eyes.

"So, what? You're scared of her forgetting you?" Jason snarled, with no compassion.

"No. It's inevitable with the disease that she will forget. I'm...devastated with it, but I'm not scared of it." Spencer replied strongly, holding his head high.

"Ahh, wait. I've got it!" Grinned Jason triumphantly. "Have you been tested?" Hotch's eyes grew wide and he watched how Spencer looked down sadly.

"No. I'm too young." He whispered simply.

"Ho ho! Your mother gave you a pretty shit hand in life didn't she. I mean your dad didn't help, but at least he didn't carry any diseases, oh _aaaaand_ he's dead so he's not really a..."

"Shut up".

"Excuse me?" Jason chuckled in shock.

"Don't talk about my parents", Spencer hissed.

"Face it Spencer, they were both failures in your life and look what's become of _you_!" Laughed Jason.

"You wouldn't know anything. You're a sick and twisted excuse for a human being", Reid yanked on his bounds, desperate to attack Wolf. Jason turned his back on Spencer's little rant and examined the tools he had sat on the table. Reid panted harshly after his sudden outburst.

"You know Dr Reid, you're right, there isn't much I can do to make you face your biggest fear. I'd have to let you live if I were to allow you to experience it, and I'm not planning on letting you survive this. So instead I'll just have my own fun with you." He grinned hungrily at Spencer as if he was a piece of meat for him to rip into. "Seeing as you told me your secret, I think it's only fair if I share my own little secret." He grinned suspiciously.

"Did you ever wonder how I got all of my information?" Spencer's eyes lifted and he frowned at Wolf, he _had_ wondered that. "As much as I'd love to accept credit, I really should come clean. I didn't do this all by myself. And I'm not talking about my lowlife son, I was glad to be rid of that one. No. I had someone much better. In fact, you know him", Spencer's glower deepened as his mind raced for answers.

"I would even say you looked up to the guy", Reid's face contorted into one of upmost confusion. Hotch tried to yell behind his tape again. "Oh do shut up agent Hotchner, your input is not needed here. I will deal with you after Dr Reid," Wolf folded his arms and knelt in front of the chair Spencer was attached to.

"Actually, He should be here any minute. He was desperate to see your reaction", Wolf grinned, his face exceedingly close to Reid's. Spencer's jaw tightened, _don't upset him, don't upset him_ , his brain cried, but his body had a different idea. Reid gathered a bolus of saliva in his mouth and launched it at the Cheshire Cat grin in front of his face. _Bullseye_! Wolf stumbled back, falling hard on his backside. He growled loudly as he pushed his hands beneath him and threw himself to his feat.

"You little..." he wiped his face roughly and staggered forward. His hands grabbed Spencer and shoved him back hard. The chair rocked on its legs before crashing backwards into the concrete. Reid squeezed his eyes shut as the breath was knocked out of him. Reid could hear Hotch screaming through the tape as Jason lifted his foot to land a kick in the side of Reid's head.

"STOP! Don't let your anger take over." The kick never reached Spencer's body and he cracked his eyes open to catch a glance at his saviour. His heart skipped a beat.

Micheal Harper stood in the doorway, his eyes on Jason.

Jason panted and nodded, backing away from Spencer.

"H..Harper. Get us out of here! Quickly, he...he's devolving." Harper simply looked at him. A smile spreading across his face.

"I'm not here to help you Spencer."

* * *

 **12.57pm (back in time)**

Amelia wiped her eyes for what felt like the a hundredth time. _Stop crying_ , her head reprimanded. She sniffled and watched as her boss took off out of the office, he appeared to be in a bit of a hurry. She looked out the window watching how he got to his car and slammed his cellphone into the ground. She frowned when he slumped against the car.

She looked at the conference room and found her friends busy; bustling around pinning pictures and string to the board. She chewed her lip and slipped out from her desk, making her way outside. She watched from the entrance as Harper grabbed his phone angrily and stormed into his car. _This isn't right_ , she thought. She glanced around and tiptoed to her own car; sliding in. Harper's car squealed from the parking lot and she started her own engines and followed. She kept a good distance between her and her boss, though she had to go pretty fast to keep up with his frantic speed.

"What am I doing?" She whimpered. She had become a suspicious wreck. She'd blamed Spencer and now she was tailing her own boss of almost 8 years.

She remained his shadow until she realised where they were going: Harper's apartment. _Why would he be going home with what we have going on_. He turned into his lot and parked up, practically launching himself from his car and heading inside. Another car stood next to Harper's, one that Amelia had never seen before. She parked a little away from the appartment block and snuck towards the cars.

She thought to ring Stanley and ask why Harper had gone home, but then she imagined the coneverstation she'd have to have, explaining as to why she was following her own boss.

Amelia peeked into the car beside Micheal's, deciding she'd come this far she might as well finish snooping. Nothing seemed out of place in the front, the leather seats were worn and torn and a small American flag stood in the centre of the dashboard. She pressed her face against the back window. The two seats were stained with blood, thick crimson still painted the one in a small puddle.

"Shit", she hissed; glancing up at the apartment building and back at the car. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and scampered toward the building.

* * *

 **1.15pm**

Reid stared in bewilderment. _Micheal helped Wolf? Micheal helped Wolf_! His brain put the pieces together, but it made his stomach turn more violently at the revelation.

"Did you find out so we can get this over with", Micheal asked Jason, heading to a chest of drawers

"Why? Why would you do this!? He killed Mara! Y..you..You support that?" Croaked Reid, his eyes full of betrayal.

"Why I did it is none of your concern. But yes, I support him." Micheal kept his back turned on Spencer.

"She was innocent!"

"The hell she was", snapped Jason. "Who do you think reported me after that incident huh? It sure as shit wasn't Micheal."

"So this is revenge? Why do you care so much about us then, or the rest of my team?" Spencer questioned, his brain trying to wrap around the men's thinking.

"You got involved", snarled Jason.

"Mrrrmpf!" Hotch yelled.

"You called us, Micheal!" Spencer cried. Jason paused and looked over to Micheal.

"Why? It would've been a hell of a lot easier if you hadn't", he frowned, Micheal sighed and turned to his partner.

"Why do you think! Bloody director was up my ass to call them in an..." Jason put up a hand to silence him, chortling quietly.

"Oh I remember that bitch well. Not to worry, you won't be working for her much longer." Micheal swallowed thickly.

"Just get it over with. I can't keep them off your scent much longer", Micheal finished rummaging in the drawers, pulling out large rolls of plastic wrap and throwing them at Jason. "I still need to live here so don't make a mess..." Jason stroked a hand down Micheal's back, quietening him.

"Do we have to take them all out? I don't think I can wait much longer. Let's just finish these two off and get out of here", he breathed into Harper's ear. Harper pulled away, coughing uncomfortably.

"No! I don't care about the FBI, but Stanley was there and the rest of them are equally guilty." He hissed harshly. Then he spoke quieter and softer, near to Wolf's ear. "They have to pay for what they did to you; to us." Spencer's lip trembled.

"You...you did this f..for love?" He whimpered, looking to Harper, who grinned cruelly.

"Do you have a problem with our type of love?" Glowered Jason.

"N..no!" Stuttered Spencer honestly, but all too quickly. Micheal laughed.

"You really wanna know our plans don't cha?" Snorted Micheal, Spencer continued to stare at him.

"Mike..." Jason started warningly, but Harper interrupted him.

"No, no Jason, who are we to deny a man his final request," Harper sighed, pushing his hair back and leaning an elbow on Jason, directing his attention on the young man in front of him.

"It's not nice being lied to is it James, oh sorry, I mean Spencer. Really I haven't done anything you haven't..."

"I haven't been an accessory to murder!" Blurted Spencer before he could contain himself.

"You dropped Callen from that building, oh and who shot Tobias Hankel?"

"That was..."

"Revenge?" Jason cut in, grinning. "Admit it Dr Reid, you are no better than us and you know it." Spencer looked down at his feet, his brain already trying to convince him otherwise. Hotch shouted through his gag. _Don't listen_ , he thought, seeing the guilt in Reid's eyes.

"So Spencer, apart from revenge, we are in fact doing this for love, as you so poetically put it." Micheal smiled over at Jason, who blushed slightly.

"Me and Jason started a relationship a year before the incident. We kept it from the team for fear that they wouldn't accept us. They certainly didn't accept Jason; they'd bitch about him whenever he was in his office, (which was a lot)." Micheal shook his head angrily.

"I tried to convince the director that the kid Jason shot was completely necessary, but they couldn't look past the victims injuries, and the fact our team put in a great word for Jason here, inevitably getting him fired." Micheal rolled his eyes, the very words disgusting him.

"It has been 7 years! 7 years of sneaking around to see each other. 7 years of working with a team I despise. 7 years of hell! Something had to give."

"Jason killed innocent people", argued Reid.

"That was _my_ plan, do not blame Jason for something I asked him to do! Besides it was good for him to let out a bit of his built up anger." Micheal explained.

"The first was the hardest, but I got a feel for it. It made me feel...so...so good", added Wolf, sighing with pleasure.

"And what? You plan on getting away with this?" Chided Spencer, which elicited a roar of laughter from the two older men.

"What we plan is to take back those 7 years. Leave the country, start a new life." Jason smiled over to Harper as he said it.

"You actually think you will get away with this", It was Spencer's turn to laugh. "Jason, what about your son? Are you just going to let him rot in prison?"

"You think I care about him. He's just collateral damage. I feel nothing for him".

Micheal chotled, putting his hands in his pockets.

"We _will_ get away with this Spencer. It's a pity you'll never be able to witness the first time you were wrong." He handed a pair of rubber evidence gloves to Jason.

"I'm heading back before anyone gets suspicious. Take care of them both and dump them somewhere, I couldn't care where, just get them out of the way." Jason saluted like a soldier, grinning happily.

Spencer began to struggle again, realising that this was it.

* * *

 **1.31pm**

Amelia got to the apartment door, taking out a bobby pin in her hair, ready to break in. She pushed down on the handle, just to check and the door swung open to her surprise. She grappled the handle quickly, peeking her head inside and finding no one in sight of the door.

Amelia crept inside the apartment, the sound of voices sent her ducking behind a door. She steadied her breathing and focused on the voices.

"7 years of hell!" That was Micheal's voice, she was sure of it. More voices; they were quieter and she couldn't make them out. It had to be at least 10 more minutes before she heard someone's footsteps heading in her direction. She held her breath. The door slammed shut and the voices began again.

"Don't you dare touch him!" She heard someone yell, it sounded like Hotch.

Amelia bit her lip and slid out from behind the door, crouching low and crawling to the room filled with scared and angry voices. She peeped around the door and came across Micheal's living room, bathed in dim light, the curtains drawn tightly. In the centre of the room was a chair that held Spencer, roped in place. Hotch was against a wall just a few metres from Amelia's hiding spot in the threshold. Jason was crouched over Hotch, balling up a gag and flinging it over his shoulder.

"Calm down! As soon as I'm done with him you're next. Wait your turn agent". Amelia took the volume of his voice as an opportunity to creep further into the room. She ducked behind the island in the small kitchen area, that was also situated in Harper's living room. _Do something_ , her brain demanded. She glanced around, her eyes catching a lighter on the counter opposite, standing atop a gas cooker.

"I've been thinking Dr Reid," Spencer's eyes flitted to the older man, Hotch panting with anger. "It's all about your brain with you. You were scared of losing your mind and now of it forgetting everything you've ever known. You are afraid of your own mind," Jason annouced triumphantly.

Amelia reached up and pulled down the lighter quickly, praying she hadn't been seen. Hotch saw a small hand grab the lighter and his eyes went wide. He finally felt something he'd been missing all day; hope.

"So I figured to make you face that fear, I have to destroy your mind", Jason ran a hand through Spencer's hair a smacked the back of his head harshly. "Then I thought of what can kill brain cells. Blunt force trauma?" He slammed his balled fist into the side of Spencer's head, causing him to yelp and groan.

"Then I had an amazing idea!" He rummaged through a bag he had placed beside the chair and revealed a taser, holding it out proudly. "I hear this bad boy is pretty good at obliterating brain cells", Spencer's body quivered; he'd been tazered before and it wasn't something he wanted to experience again.

Jason headed towards the kitchen, drenching a rag in water from the island's tap. Hotch held his breath, hoping against all hope that Wolf didn't see whoever was behind the counter. Jason walked back, none the wiser.

Amelia opened the cupboard as quietly as she could, finding only cleaning products. She pulled open the one next to it and found pans, but a large bottle caught her eyes. She reached in silently and carefully extracted a bottle half full of Jack Daniels. She looked from the alcohol to the lighter, her eyes lighting up with an idea.

Jason approached Spencer with the cloth. Spencer bucked to try and get away, but the cool rag moistened the skin on his neck.

"Please... you don't have to..." Spencer began to beg, but Jason tsked at him.

"Don't bother", he sighed.

"Don't you da..." Hotch was interrupted by a piercing scream belonging to Spencer. Hotch's eyes flicked up to find Reid convulsing in his chair, Jason holding a taser to his neck.

"NO STOP!" He shrieked.

Amelia couldn't stand the scream of the only man she'd ever loved. She decided to put her, albeit rushed, plan into action. She stood up, gaining Hotch's attention and lit the sleeve she'd ripped from her top and dipped in alcohol.

The tazer was taken away from Spencer's neck and he heaved out a shaky breath. His eyes caught Amelia lighting a sliver of cloth.

"Y..y'know what wolves a..are a..afraid of", he stammered, trying to sit up normally. Amelia dropped the lit fabric into the bottle.

"huh?" Jason paused from jabbing Spencer with the taser.

"Fire!" Hissed Spencer with a grin. Amelia threw the bottle just as Wolf turned in her diection.

The bottle connected with Wolfs shoulder smashing in a burst of flames, lighting up Jason's body like a Christmas tree.

Spencer gasped, turning his head.

Jason roared in agony, waving his arms around as the flames spread over his rib cage and down to his legs.

Spencer closed his eyes as the smell of burning flesh perforated his nostrils. _Tobias_ , he thought, pushing back the images.

Amelia stood watching as Wolf burnt. Hotch sat and watched.

"HELP!" Gargled Jason's throaty voice. No one moved. Jason finally saw sense when he caught sight of his flesh and blood meting and bubbling from his bone, he dropped to the floor and rolled. Chunks of charcoled flesh and clothing falling from him. The rolling stopped after a few more seconds and silence ensued.

"Shit.." breathed Amelia, looking at the two living men. They smiled at her and she made her way over to them. She heaved the ropes from around spencer and cut the cable ties around Hotch's wrists and feet.

She yanked her cellphone from out her back pocket and her fingers trembled over the keys. She was about to text Stanley, but stopped herself. _What if he's working for them_ _too_ , she thought, though she doubted that her mentor and friend would, but after the Haper reveal she couldn't take that chance. She text Conner.

"We have to get back, Micheal is still out there", Amelia insisted.

"I'll stay here and call the cops, I'll explain why you guys left", offered Hotch, who didn't feel like getting off the floor and taking on Harper.

"Y...you gonna b..be okay?" Stuttered Spencer, getting to his feet unsteadily and holding the wall for balance.

"I'm fine. Get this son of a bitch," he Looked at them both with sad eyes, "for Mara and Alex".

* * *

 **2pm**

Rossi's phone vibrated and he frowned at the unknown caller ID.

"Agent Ro..."

"Dave, I..it's Micheal! R..Rossi is he there with y..you? He's working for W..Wolf." Rossi glanced up at Harper's office, the blinds closed. Harper had been hibernating in there since he'd arrived 15 minutes before.

"Guys!" He rushed to his team the phone still pressed to his ear. "It's Reid! He's alive! He said Harper is involved!"

"Rossi y.. have to t..take him out, we are coming in now. Jason's dead." Spencer's voice came through the phone as Rossi put him on speaker.

"No thats..that's not possible", mumbled Stanley.

"Please, y..you have to believe me..." Spencer started.

"Stanley I followed him to his apartment and Jason was there with Spencer and Aaron. Please trust us", Amelia's desperate voice cut in. Stanley looked up at the office and closed his eyes, how could the man he'd worked with for most of his life be involved? But something in Amelia's voice convinced him just enough.

"I'll do it. He was my friend." Stanley got to his feet and took a step towards Harper's office. The door barged open and in stumbled Reid and Amelia, both staring up at Harper's office. Micheal came out of his office, gun in hand turning towards the room. Stanley almost slipped off his feet when a gunshot rang out.

* * *

 **2.02pm**

They rushed into the building and up the stairs, Reid struggling with his injured leg.

They fell through the door looking up at Harper's office, just as the man yanked open his door and raised his gun back into his office.

A loud boom echoed followed by a shocked silence.

Amelia lowered her gun.

Micheal Harper's gun clattered to the floor as he crumbled to his knees, swaying for a few seconds before collapsing onto his front, a hefty pool of blood trickling out from under him.

Conner Jacobs stood over the body, a smoking gun still clamped in his white knuckles. His teeth gritted together as he panted through them.

"Drop the gun, son", muttered Stanley, making his way to the young man. Conner kept the gun raised.

"I...I got him. Amelia text me, I..I confronted him... he pulled a gun on me... but...but I got him", he mumbled.

"You sure did, now give me the gun", Stanley held his hands toward Conner to take the gun away. Conner looked at the older man and sighed, handing the gun over.

"He was going to kill us. I..I had to do it Stanley..." he cried, a pleading look about his grey eyes.

"I know you did. You did a good job", assured Stanley, patting the younger mans shoulder.

Spencer fell back into a nearby wall and closed his eyes in relief. Amelia broke down into tears; tears of relief as well as loss.

"It's over", Stanley simpered, leaning his body heavily against the railing and looking down at the body of his former boss. _Boss no more_ , he thought.

"You two have a lot of explaining!" Morgan quipped. "But first, just tell me Hotch is okay."

"He stayed with Jason's body at the crime scene. No doubt he'll be coming here before the hospital", smiled Amelia. With that Morgan heaved a sigh of relief and gathered an exhausted Reid into his arms.

"I am never...ever letting you put of my sight ever again", he beamed, pushing his face into Reid's neck and breathing in the smell of his hair.

"Never", Spencer whispered back.

* * *

 **3.12 pm**

The whole team were reunited, Hotch having convinced an officer to take him to the precinct instead of a hospital. The body's were now cleared away, never to be seen again, (they hoped.)

They were now experiencing the calm after the storm; reflecting on their loses. In fact as soon as Hotch had arrived 17 minutes prior, they'd all shed tears over Alex and Mara. They also cried with relief and triumph. And they thanked god it was all finally over.

"Let's go home", grinned Hotch.

"No home. Hospital first", insisted Rossi, his eyes said 'do not argue' and Hotch's smile soon faded.

"But I'm fine", Hotch whined.

"You're still running on adrenaline. Besides you need to rest."

"Uh, I think someone's already taking advantage of that", giggled JJ, pointing to Mara's old desk. Spencer had his head lay across his arms, his shoulders rising and falling steadily.

"Dibbs not waking him", quipped Morgan.

"That's a job for you", smirked JJ, turning to an unsuspecting Penelope.

"Oh I see how it is. Throw your own goddess into the deep end", she took a deep breath. "Pray for me my doves."

* * *

 **So that's it. Oh god I pray that this lived up to expectations, it took a lot of my brain to try and twist and turn it, which is why it took longer than expected.**

 **I know I could've done so much more, and explained things a title better, but the size of this chapter was getting out of hand. But hey, that leaves room for a few special chapters. In the reviews tell me something you'd like to know about this chapter of storyline and I'll think about doing some extra chapters.**

 **Thank you everyone who reviewed, and I'll just address the most recent (which I haven't addressed yet):**

 **Tannerrose5, thank you for all your reviews and I'm sorry about that mixup, I did change it, my mind was a little confused at the time.**

 **Sarry22, I'm so glad you liked this trilogy, thank you for reviewing, I do hope this was exciting!**

 **Oh and ahowell1993, badass Spencer is the best! I wish they'd portray him as one in the show more often.**

 **And to everyone else:**

 **Criminalmindsaddict16 and the cmpreston619.**

 **There could be an epilogue coming to this, but I don't think I will extend this trilogy anymore.**

 **It's been a whirlwind, thank you for joining me on it!**


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